© APA/dpa/Karl-Josef Hildenbrand / Karl-Josef Hildenbrand
The Draconids are the magic bag of shooting stars and often cause surprises.
The shooting stars are still there until October 10th Draconids seen in the night sky. The maximum will be for the October 9 expected. However, Draconids are considered temperamental and difficult to predict, which is why more of them could be seen as early as October 8th or even October 10th.
Anyway, the season is good this year. The moon, which is only about a quarter illuminated, doesn’t rise until after midnight – the next full moon won’t happen until October 28th.
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Can be seen just after sunset
This means that yellow shooting stars can be seen just after sunset high in the northwest. As a guide, look for the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.
Shooting stars are above the big bear and to the left of the little bear best seen, reports fr.de. Apps can help you find the constellations.
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Draconids are slow and therefore easy to see when they appear. Their reputation for being bad-tempered comes from the varying frequency with which they are seen. Only 10 shooting stars per hour are expected this year. There were also bad forecasts for 2011, but in some cases it was 300 per hour. In 2018, there were at least 150 in a 4-hour time span – also significantly more than 10.
Avoid metropolitan areas when observing shooting stars
As always, when observing shooting stars, you should look for an elevated location, as far away as possible from the light pollution of metropolitan areas. The climate currently speaks against good observation. It is expected to be cloudy in most parts of Austria on October 8th and 9th at night. According to the weather report, there is a greater chance of clear skies on October 9th.
Since it’s getting cold again now, you should dress appropriately if you’re going to watch shooting stars. A hot drink in a thermos can also help. You can leave your telescope and binoculars at home. The larger the area you can see in the night sky, the greater your chance of spotting a shooting star.