How to spot the Delta Aquariids meteor shower this month

One in my favorite Stargaze ways is to spend a few hours with friends to chat and watch the stars move, while waiting for meteor flashes to pass. Summer in the northern hemisphere is perfect for this kind of evening – especially since two meteor showers are about to reach their peak.

Metears are lightning of light mainly created by tiny pieces of dust burning on earth. Sometimes a larger rock will separate when it enters the atmosphere of the planet, and all the pieces of it that go to the ground become meteorites. While the earth moves around the sun, it passes clouds of rocks and dust left by comets and asteroids at the same time each year. This transit period is when we see meteor showers.

Meteor Delta Aquarids’ shower is caused by 96p / Machholz comet, a short period comet that orbit the sun every five years. It was discovered in 1986 and made its approach closest to the sun – when it is the most visible – in 2023. His next closest approach will be in 2028.

It is a moderate meteor shower, which means that you could expect to see up to 20 meteors per hour per clear and dark night. This will reach on July 30, but the Delta Aquarids shower (photo) tends to be more progressive than the others, from mid-July in mid-August. This makes it less important than you saw in the peak evening compared to other meteor showers.

The aquarids delta is generally more impressive when seen from the southern hemisphere, but meteors can be seen in the world.

The best bet to spot them is to find a night with little or no moonlight towards the end of July. This year, the phases of the moon are perfectly timed for a new moon on July 24, which means that any day until the first quarter of July 31 will be the right time to try.

To see the meteor shower, just find a comfortable place as far from the light pollution as possible. Make sure you stay warm when you let your eyes adapt to darkness for at least 40 minutes, then look up. The Delta Aquarids seem to come from the constellation of Aquarius, which is from where they take their names, but they will travel in the sky in all directions.

If you look at the end of July or until August, you could also start to spot part of the Perseid meteor shower. It is generally an impressive meteor shower that culminates around August 12. This year, the Perseid shower will reach a summit on the evening of August 12 to 13, so try to look after midnight on this night section if you can.

So, gather friends, take comfortable blankets and hot water bottles and come together towards the end of July or early August, and see how many meteors you can spot. I will certainly do it.

Abigail Beall is editor -in -chief of New Scientist and author of The Art of Urban Astronomy. Follow it @Abbybeall

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