How to watch two meteor showers peak together in late July
This image provided by NASA shows the 96p Machholz comet which orbits the sun about every 6 years, and is suspected of provoking the showers of meteorids from the southern delta. Credit: NASA / ESA / Soho via AP
It is almost time for the Meteor shower duo of Summer.
The south of the Delta Aquarid and the showers of alpha Capricornid meteors culminate at the same time – early in the morning of July 30.
Without too much interference from the moonlight – the hair removal moon will only be around a full quarter – the meteors should appear shiny and clear in the regions of the city’s lights.
With each shower supposed to produce up to a dozen meteors visible per hour under dark sky, the double head means that the total number of meteors “addresses,” said Thaddeus Lacoursiere, coordinator of the Planetarium program at Bell Museum in St. Paul, Minnesota.
“Look for lightnings of light in the night sky,” he said, adding that the two are “very beautiful showers of classic meteors”.
The Alpha Capricornides – produced by slower meteors – can have tails that persist slightly longer in the sky, said Nick Moskovitz of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona.
The visualization of each shower lasts until August 12.
What is a meteor shower?
While the earth orbits the sun, several times a year, it passes through debris left by passing comets and sometimes asteroids.
The source of the Delta aquariids is debris from the 96p / Machholz comet. The alpha capricornides come from the 169p / neat comet.
When these rapid evolutionary space rocks enter the atmosphere of the earth, the debris encounter a new resistance of the air and become very hot, ultimately burning.
Sometimes the surrounding air briefly brief, leaving behind an ardent tail – the end of a “shooting star”.
You do not need special equipment to see the different showers of meteors that flash each year, in a place far from the city lights.
How to see a meteor shower
The best time to watch a meteor shower is in the early hours of the presale when the moon is low in the sky.
Competiting light sources – such as a brilliant moon or artificial glow – are the main obstacles to a clear vision of meteors. Nuits without clouds where the moon drops the smallest are optimal vision opportunities.
And continue to look up, not broken down. Your eyes will be better suited to locate the filming stars if you do not check your phone.
When is the next meteor shower?
The next big shower of major meteors, the Perseids, culminates in mid-August.
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