Since watching the northern lights (or aurora borealis) in Iceland in 2018, seeing a shooting star (also known as a meteor) has been on my bucket list.
Simply put, a shooting star is a bit of rock or dust that hits the Earth's atmosphere at great speed, so it heats up and glows, allowing us to spot them in good conditions. This includes clear skies, low levels of light pollution, and a dull moon. It's common knowledge that meteor showers, in which the frequency of visible meteors increases, occur at certain points throughout the year, the most prolific being the Perseids, which tends to peak annually around mid-August, with 60-100 shooting stars per hour.
Therefore, over the past few years I have always kept my calendar free around August 12th in the hopes of spotting a shooting star. The issue with living in London is that even at the height of summer, clear skies are not guaranteed and light pollution is a given. I even contemplated being on holiday over the peak of the Perseids in order to see the showers. Nonetheless, in 2022, I finally managed to accomplish this bucket list item in the Big Smoke, and I've decided to share my tips and tricks in order to help any other city dwellers achieve this feat.
Although the best place to see a shooting star in the UK is in a national park far from city lights, this can be unrealistic for Londoners (especially when August 12 falls on a weekday). After considerable research, I found that the best places in London to spot a shooting star are Primrose Hill, Morden Hall Park, Blythe Hill Fields, and Blackheath Park. Primrose Hill surprised me given its central location, however apparently its elevation allows it to avoid a large proportion of light pollution. One thing to be aware of is that many of London's parks close overnight so try to ensure that you find a park that is open between 10pm and 4am, as these hours provide the best chance of spotting a meteor.
My friends and I settled on Blackheath Park due to its proximity and we set off at around 10pm. To my dismay, there were many street lights near the heath but regardless, we found a patch up the hill and lay down on a blanket, looking up at the sky. Luckily, 12th August 2022 coincided with clear skies in 2022 (which isn't always the case in London!) but despite the heatwave, it still got chilly at night so I'd definitely recommend bringing warm clothing and extra blankets. To my surprise, there were also many flies and I woke up with 17 itchy insect bites the next morning so make sure to wear layers or use insect repellent. It took about 20 minutes in order for our eyes to adjust to the stars and eventually, we started to see some of the of them twinkling and moving through the sky quickly, albeit without a trail (as well as dozens of airplanes), but we didn't see any awe-inspiring shooting stars for a while.
That is, until my friends suddenly gasped and became excited as they'd seen a proper shooting star (i.e. with a trail) glowing across the sky. Annoyingly, I'd missed it, so whilst I saw many small ones I hadn't been looking at that part of the sky and it was over before I knew it. I'm not patient at the best of times, but I was sure that more would appear so I just had to wait it out. After what felt like an eternity, I finally spotted a big meteor trail, which was confirmed by one of my friends, and over the following couple of hours, we saw several shooting stars. Given the vastness of the sky, often I'd only catch a glimpse of a meteor in my periphery and I kept convincing myself that it was in my head unless my friends had spotted them too. It was a very wholesome and relaxing activity, and any time we saw a proper shooting star we'd get very excited and it felt very special.
As it approached 1am and we'd all seen at least a couple of flaming trails, I suggested that we wait for one more 'good' shooting star and then head home, and within 30 seconds, we all spotted a huge shooting star right across the centre of our view, which we all managed to see and was pretty incredible.
Although many people who live in the countryside manage to see various shooting stars a year, it took me 24 years to see even one and I was very fortunate to have seen several this year. I don't think it'll become an annual tradition, but it was a lot of fun and I think everyone should see a shooting star at least once in their lifetime.
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