Washington – It is almost time for summer meteor rains.
The rains of meteoros Southern Delta Aquariid and Alpha Capricornid reach their maximum point at the same time: in the early hours of July 30.
Without too much interference of the moonlight (the growing moon will be full only in a quarter), the meteors should appear bright and clear in regions far from the city’s lights.
Each rain is expected to produce up to a dozen visible meteors per hour under dark skies, double means that the total number of meteors “does add,” said Thaddeus Lacoursiere, coordinator of the planetarium program in the Bell Museum in St. Paul, Minnesota.
“Look for light flashes in the night sky,” he said, adding that both are “very pleasant classic meteor rains.”
The Alpha Capricornids, produced by slower movement meteors, can have queues that remain a little more in the sky, said Nick Moskovitz of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona.
The visualization of each rain lasts until August 12.
What is a meteor rain?
As the earth orbits around the sun, several times a year passes through the rubble left by the comets that pass and sometimes the asteroids.
The Delta Aquariids source are the debris of comet 96p/Machholz. Alpha Capricornids come from comet 169p/neat.
When these rapid movement rocks enter the earth’s atmosphere, the debris find a new air resistance and heat up a lot, and finally burn.
Sometimes, the surrounding air shines briefly, leaving behind a fire tail: the end of a “fleeting star.”
It does not need special equipment to see the various meteor rains that flash annually, only a place away from the city’s lights.
How to see a meteor rain
The best time to see a meteor rain is in the early hours before dawn, when the moon is low in the sky.
The light sources that compete, such as a brilliant moon or an artificial glow, are the main obstacles to a clear vision of meteors. Cloudless nights when the moon won the smallest are optimal observation opportunities.
And keep looking up, not down. Your eyes will be better adapted to detect fleeting stars if you are not checking your phone.
When is the next meteor rain?
The next important meteor rain, the Perseidas, reaches its maximum point in mid -August.