Get ready for a double meteor shower.
The meteor shower The Southern Delta Aquariids peak in late July. And this year it will coincide with a second, smaller meteor shower, the Alpha Capricornids.
The Delta Aquariids occur every year in late northern summer. This year’s peak of activity will be early Tuesday morning, with 15 to 20 meteors per hour expected to be visible in the Northern Hemisphere under dark skies. In the Southern Hemisphere, viewing will be even better. According to the American Meteor Society, the shower will last until August 21.
Around the same time, the Alpha Capricornid meteor shower will produce about five meteors per hour and will last until August 15.
Here’s what you need to know about the Delta Aquariids and other meteor showers.
What is a meteor shower?
Multiple meteor showers, or meteor showers, occur each year, and no special equipment is needed to view them.
Most meteor showers originate from cometary debris. The Delta Aquariids are thought to have originated from comet 96P/Machholz. The Alpha Capricornids originate from comet 169P/NEAT.
When rocks from space enter Earth’s atmosphere, air resistance heats them up greatly. This causes the air around them to glow and briefly leave a fiery tail behind them – the end of a “shooting star.”
Pockets of glowing air surrounding space rocks, about the size of a dust particle or a boulder, can be visible in the night sky.
These two meteor showers are not large in volume, but the Alpha Capricornids typically produce very bright meteors, said astronomer Don Pollacco of the University of Warwick.
For sky watchers, “one brilliant one is worth 20 weak ones”it states.
How to watch a meteor shower?
Meteor showers are usually most visible between midnight and before dawn.
It’s easier to see shooting stars under dark skies, away from city lights. Meteor showers are also brighter on clear nights, and when the sky is brighter. Moon is in its last quarter.
And your eyes will adapt better to seeing meteors if you’re not looking at your phone. “It ruins your night vision,” says Bill Cooke of the POT.
The Southern Hemisphere will have the best view of the Delta Aquariids. Coinciding with a Moon that is around 30% full, the clearest view will occur after midnight.
When will the next meteor shower be?
The Meteor Society maintains an updated list of upcoming major meteor showers, including peak viewing days and moonlight conditions.
The next big meteor shower will be the Perseids, which will peak in mid-August.