Stargazers, this is your moment to view some celestial extravaganza. Meteor showers from the Alpha Capricornid and Southern Delta Aquariid are forecast to peak this evening, which should entertain viewers on the night sky with a mesmerizing display. The meteor showers will reach their climax on July 31 after gradually intensifying for quite some time. This will be followed by the heavily awaited Perseid meteor shower peaking in mid-August.
Meteor showers are best seen from a dark sky, well away from city lights. Light pollution, any artificial light, plus moonlight, can make meteors much harder to see. No special equipment is required; the naked eye is the best instrument for viewing meteors because they are so fast-moving that binoculars and telescopes cannot follow them. One needs a wide field of view since meteors can appear anywhere in the sky.
The Alpha Capricornids
When to Watch: The Alpha Capricornids are active from July 3 to August 15, peaking on the night of July 30 into the morning of July 31. On this night, a waning crescent moon, about 18 percent illuminated, will rise around 2 A.M. local daylight time. Even though this shower has a rather modest maximum of about five meteors per hour, it is known for occasional bright, slow-moving fireballs.
Parent Object: The Alpha Capricornids are linked with the debris left behind by comet 169P/NEAT, which orbits the Sun every 4.2 years.
Radiant: Meteors will be seen to appear from the constellation of Capricornus, which would show up all night from mid-latitudes and stand about 30° high at best. From more northerly latitudes, it will be lower in the sky, hence offering less favorable conditions compared with observers in the south.
The Southern Delta Aquariids
When to Watch: The Southern Delta Aquariids are active from July 12 to August 23, and they don’t peak sharply. Meteor rates build up gradually to a maximum of about 25 per hour on July 31. The best viewing conditions will be the last couple of nights of July and the first week of August when moonlight will be minimal.
Parent Object: This shower is produced by the debris left behind by Comet 96P/Machholz, discovered in 1986 by Donald Machholz, which orbits the Sun every 5.3 years.
Radiant: The meteors appear from southern Aquarius, peaking around 2:30 A.M. in your local daylight time zone.
The Perseids
When to Observe: The Perseids are active from July 17 through August 24, peaking early in the morning of August 12. This is the largest summer shower and contains a zenithal hourly rate concerning 100 meteors an hour. It would be best observed during the overnight shift on the 11th/12th August.
Parent Object: The meteor shower’s radiant is from the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. It orbits the Sun every 133 years.
Radiant: The meteors radiate from the constellation Perseus, and thus are seen best all night from latitudes of about 40° north or greater. The best time to view, however, is around dawn, though you may see some as early as 10 P.M.
The best experience will be had by avoiding areas with artificial lights and allowing your eyes to adjust to the darkness for at least 20 minutes. One may well be comfortable on a sun-lounger, viewing platform. Watch the skies in blocks of at least 30 minutes to increase the chance of spotting any meteors. As with any meteor shower, the best time for viewing is always in the early morning hours when Earth is rotating into the meteor stream.
Tonight’s double meteor shower promises to be a thing. From the oldest astronomer down to just somebody who looks at the stars from time to time, it’s not something you would want to miss.