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LIVING IN SWITZERLAND

REVEALED: The Swiss cities turning off their lights for weekend meteor shower

The Perseids is one of the best annual meteor showers, showing their fireballs on warm summer nights in the northern hemisphere. In Switzerland, some towns want to make the event even more special by turning off their lights.

Published: 12 August 2022 16:11 CEST
REVEALED: The Swiss cities turning off their lights for weekend meteor shower
A Perseid meteor streaks across the sky above a camping site at the Negev desert near the city of Mitzpe Ramon, Israel, on August 11th, 2020 during the Perseids meteor shower, which occurs every year when the Earth passes through the cloud of debris left by the comet Swift-Tuttle. (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP)

Every year, skywatchers get ready for the Perseid meteor shower, which in 2022 is going to peak in the early hours of Saturday, just before dawn. At its peak, it will be possible to see about 200 shooting starts per hour if the conditions are optimal.

The Perseids, as this particular meteor shower is known, are fragments of the comet Swift-Tuttle. Its small dust particles (not actual stars) burn up when they enter Earth’s atmosphere at high speed. They can be observed worldwide but are best viewed in the northern hemisphere.

READ ALSO: Five beautiful Swiss villages located near Alpine lakes

And they may be in large parts of Switzerland. Despite the full moon blocking some of the views (don’t worry, the moon should set at around 2 am), the skies should be clear of clouds during the early hours of Saturday, according to the Swiss meteorology agency MeteoSchweiz.

Some cities also want to remove another major obstacle to stargazing: the artificial lightning that hides most of our stars, the Milky Way, and many shooting stars. The Projet Perseides invites Swiss towns to turn off municipal lights and incentivise stargazing.

The project, created in the French-speaking cantons, has gathered support mainly in western Swiss, but, according to the organisers: “Ultimately, we are targeting the whole of Europe”.

Which cities are participating?

You can find the complete list of municipalities here. The communes include Champagne, Grandson, La Chaux, Lausanne, Neuchâtel, Provence, Yverdon-les-Bains, Fribourg, and more than 100 others.

The project invites the municipalities to turn off their public lightning and convince citizens and businesses to do the same – all voluntarily.

READ ALSO: Travel: What are the best night train routes to and from Switzerland?

Projet Perseides started in Orbe in 2019 when the non-profit association convinced the town and surrounding municipalities to turn out the lights. In 2020, nearly 120 Vaud cities joined the project. The following year, they were joined by cities in Valais, Fribourg and Neuchâtel, according to the site.

What if my city is not among them?

Even if your city is not a part of the project, it is still possible to watch the phenomenon. The best time would be between 2 am (when the bright full moon sets) and pre-dawn hours, so until around 5 am.

The association says: “to enjoy the night, don’t look at light sources. Let your eyes become accustomed to the darkness”. This includes ditching your phone for a few hours.

If you can visit a part of town with little artificial light, perhaps going up a mountain, for example, you also improve your chances of seeing more of the shower.

Member comments

  1. How about you pay women equal to men for the work they do. Then fix the retirement age. Let’s hit salary parity first. Let’s have four day work weeks so that women can more comfortably raise a family.

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MONEY

Do adult children in Switzerland have to support their parents financially?

Usually, it is the parents’ responsibility to ensure their kids are well taken care of financially. But can Swiss authorities force the children to return the favour in times of need?

Published: 30 April 2024 15:31 CEST
Do adult children in Switzerland have to support their parents financially?

In most cases, once children are grown up and out of the house, they are (or at least should be) self-sufficient in terms of finances.

Parents too should breathe a sigh of relief that they are no longer obligated to pay for their children’s expenses, except perhaps for giving them some money here and there as a gift.

This is what happens in the best-case scenario.

But what if things don’t go according to this plan — for instance, if the parents find themselves in financial straits and can’t  afford to pay their bills?

Family obligations

Generally speaking, the truly needy people who don’t have enough income to pay for their basic living expenses will receive financial help from the government, in the very least in the form of the health insurance and housing subsidy.

READ ALSO: Can I get financial help in Switzerland if I’m struggling to pay the bills?

However, before doling out public money, authorities will see whether relatives should be made to help the struggling individuals pay their bills.

(In this context, ‘relatives’ means only those in the direct line of descent: grandparents, parents, and children.)

They will do it by checking the tax status of these relatives — how much they earn and what other financial assets they have — to determine whether, and how much, they should be paying toward their parents’ expenses.

Obviously, you will be expected to pay up only if your own financial situation allows it; you will not be forced to part with your money if you have very little of it yourself.

 ‘Favourable financial circumstaces’

Based on a Federal Court ruling, if the adult child  lives in ‘favourable financial circumstances’ they are required to help out their struggling parents.

The Court defined ‘favourable financial circumstances’ as income and assets allowing a comfortable life.

‘Comfortable life’, in turn, was defined by the Swiss Conference for Social Welfare (SKOS), as a taxable annual income of 120,000 francs for a single person, and 180,000 francs for married couples.

“If you have minors in your household, the limit is increased by 20,000 francs per child,” according to AXA insurance.

It goes on to say that you can deduct an exempt amount from your taxable assets.

“Your annual depletion of assets is deducted from the remaining amount. This means that if you are obligated to provide financial support, you are permitted to use part of your assets yourself each year; you don’t have to devote your entire assets to providing support.”

At between 18 and 30 years of age, this is 1/60th per year; from 31 to 40, 1/50th per year; 41 to 50, 1/40th per year; 51 to 60, 1/30th per year; and from the age of 61,1/20th per year. 

Are there any exemptions to these rules?

Aside from not having sufficient funds, you could be exempted from paying if, say, your parents, or parent, have not lived up to their own financial obligations toward you.

In Switzerland, parents are required to  provide financially for their children until the age of majority, and even beyond that if they are still studying or undergoing vocational training — typically, until the mid-20s.

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