Shooting stars in August? Everyone has heard of this before.

Northern lights over Osnabrück? We already had that this year!
But shooting stars and northern lights together in one night above the Osnabrück region? That's impossible!

Yes, it is possible! On August 12, 2024 we from kosmos-os.de had our"Sternschnuppenstunden"to place in the vicinity of Lechtingen. The sky there is significantly darker than in Osnabrück and you have a clear view to the east and - which also happened to be important - to the north. On this night there should be a particularly large number of shooting stars from the shooting star stream Perseids Our visitors – about 25 interested people had come, old and young – and we were excited.

It turned out to be a perfect night of observation! The air was warm, not below 20° C. It was very clear and windless.

10:00 p.m., the tension rose. When it was dark enough and the first stars appeared, the sky above us with all its interesting objects became the first topic. We had also set up some telescopes with which we could take a closer look: double stars, star clusters, the planet Saturn, later also Jupiter and Mars – impressive beauties.

The night came and you heard more and more often: "There!", "Already the 5th", "Have you seen it" ... . The hunting fever was spreading. And suddenly: "What's that in the north?". Then faint, grayish pillars of light appeared. Maybe a disco that drew attention to itself? The cameras set up brought the solution. With their high sensitivity, they showed coloured, vertical shots called flaming. That was clearly the Northern Lights! Again and again it lit up, the whole night. And again and again an "Ah" signaled that someone had seen a shooting star.

Actually, shooting stars and auroras don't have much in common, except that they are luminous phenomena at high altitudes in our atmosphere. On this night, however, they appeared together above us and gave our visitors and us a lasting experience that could hardly be surpassed.

Epilogue
When the last visitors had left us at around 02:15 a.m., the kosmos-os team enjoyed a special sight - Jupiter and Mars, very close together, rose in the east. Between the bright stars Elnath and Aldebaran in Taurus, an impressive sight unfolded above the horizon. We were only home in the morning around 03:30 a.m. – a perfect night

Impressions

The sky above us on 12.8.2024 with Perseid and satellite tracks (on mouseover: labeling)
Photo: Olaf Homeier

A bright Perseid above the northern horizon in the faint aurora borealis (on mouseover label)
Photo: Gerold Holtkamp

Collage with many shooting stars from this night, which appear to come from the constellation Perseus - except for one shooting star. (on mouseover: labeling)
Photos: Thomas Grunge

A video with a tracked camera. The light trails are mostly satellites
Video: Thomas Grunge

A video with a fixed camera. Here, too, the light trails come mainly from satellites
Video: Gerold Holtkamp