Astronomy Holidays in Morocco

Saharan Starscapes

The Perseids' Meteoric Swarm (Shooting stars)

This is a meteor shower with rates of over one hunder meteors per hour during its peak. They get their name from their apparent origin, the consellation of Perseus and are associated with the Swift-Tuttle comet.

The night of August 12th to 13th is the culminating point of this cosmic rain. We recommend the the desert (Merzouga or Zagora) with its amazing night skies as the perfect places to watch this natural display, well away from the pollution of city lights.

Suggested reading

A NASA article of the Perseid metor shower, with photo gallery

Stars and Planets by Ian Ridpath. A fabulous, colourful all-in-one reference book that contains everything a beginner or amateur astronomer will ever need. More detail / buy from Amazon.

The New Patterns in the Sky by Julius Staal. A delightful, multi-cultural tour of the eternal pictures and stories in the sky placed there by humanity. Contains numerous Arabic references. More detail / buy from Amazon.

Suggested equipment

Any ordinary pair of binoculars, ideally 10x50. e.g. Pentax 10x50 XCF Binoculars (Amazon).