If you spend enough time looking up at the night sky, you’re bound to see a meteor streak across it. However, some nights are better than others for meteor sightings.
During certain times of the year, Earth passes through areas of its orbit that are filled with debris from comets and asteroids. This debris collides with our atmosphere, creating meteor showers.
Not all meteor showers are created equal. The more debris there is and the faster it’s traveling, the more meteors you’ll see. However, most meteor showers occur annually when Earth returns to the same spot in its orbit.
The end of July is one of those times when Earth passes through multiple streams of debris in our Solar System.
Two meteor showers, the Southern Delta Aquariids and the Alpha Capricornids, reach their peak around July 31. While neither of these showers is considered the best of the year, when combined, they can put on a beautiful show during the winter nights.
The Southern Delta Aquariids are the more active of the two showers. They are the third-strongest meteor shower of the year for stargazers in Australia and New Zealand. These meteors come from comet 96P/Machholz, which moves on an elongated and tilted orbit within the inner Solar System. The Southern Delta Aquariids are active for about six weeks, from mid-July to late August, with their peak occurring on July 31. During the peak, under perfect conditions, observers can see up to 20 to 25 meteors per hour.
The Alpha Capricornids, on the other hand, are a weaker shower compared to the Southern Delta Aquariids. They produce fewer meteors per hour, with observers typically seeing only four or five meteors from this shower in any given hour. However, the Alpha Capricornids are known for producing bright meteors and fireballs. In 2010, scientists identified the parent of this shower as a dim comet called 169P/NEAT. They believe it is a small piece of a larger object that fragmented thousands of years ago. Currently, Earth only passes through the outer layers of the debris stream from this fragmentation, but in a few hundred years, it is predicted that we will pass through the center of the stream, making the Alpha Capricornids the best meteor shower of the year.
To catch the best view of these meteor showers, it is recommended to go out on the nights of Tuesday, July 30, and Wednesday, July 31. The radiants, the points in the sky from which the meteors appear to radiate, rise in the east around 9pm or 10pm in Australia and New Zealand. The higher the radiants rise in the sky, the more meteors will be visible. The bright stars Altair and Fomalhaut can serve as guides, and the planet Saturn can also be seen in the same part of the sky.
The longer you stay outside, the better your chances of seeing meteors. The radiants will move across the sky throughout the night, reaching their highest point between 11pm and 3am. It is recommended to find a location away from city lights and allow your eyes to adjust to the darkness for at least half an hour. Meteors are not evenly spaced out, so you may go several minutes without seeing any and then spot several in a short period of time.
For the best view, look to the northeast in the evening, the north around midnight, and the northwest in the pre-dawn hours. The darker the sky, the more meteors you’ll be able to see. This year, the Moon will be out of the way during the peak of the meteor showers, rising only a couple of hours before dawn.
So, take advantage of this opportunity to witness a winter spectacle and maybe even catch a glimpse of a fireball caused by debris from a dying comet thousands of years ago.
