EYES TO THE SKIES! THE ALPHA CAPRICORNID AND DELTA AQUARID METEOR SHOWERS ACTIVE RIGHT NOW AND PEAKING TONIGHT JULY 29TH! – BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR SHOOTING STARS!🤩💖🌠✨️
A QUICK SUMMARY
ALPHA CAPRICORNIDS
- Parent Body: Comet 169P/NEAT
- Radiant Constellation: Capricorn
- Shower activity between: 3rd July – 15th August
- Peak activity: 29th-30th July
- Peak meteor count: <5 meteors an hour
DELTA AQUARIDS
- Parent Body: Comet 96P/Machholz
- Radiant Constellation: Aquarius
- Shower activity between: 12th July – 23rd August
- Peak activity: 29th – 30th July
- Peak meteor count: <25 meteors an hour
After a fairly long meteor drought, we now have not one, not two, but THREE prominent annual meteor showers that are now active and will hopefully put on a dazzling display and light up our ever-darkening skies (hurray for darkening skies). Their names are; The Delta Aquariids, Alpha Capricornids and of course one of the biggest, most famous meteor showers of the year – the Perseid meteor shower.
All of these meteor showers are active now and the peak (the night with the most activity) for the Delta Aquariid and Alpha Capricornid meteor showers occur will occur tonight on the night of the 29th into the morning of the 30th of July!
In this post we thought we would provide some information on the Alpha Capricornid and Delta Aquariid meteor showers and will be creating another post surrounding the great Perseid meteor shower following this one.
Although both the Alpha Capricornid and Delta Aquarid meteor showers are not considered to be among the most intense meteor showers, they can still put on a fairly impressive display producing a combined 30 meteors per hour under perfect conditions.
This year will be also be a fairly good year for viewing these showers as the Moon will set early in the evening leaving the skies free from natural light pollution.
All in all, it’s a great time to spot meteors and well worth spending an hour or two out stargazing.
If you would like more information including when to look, where to look, what causes meteor showers, and more, please read on…
THE DELTA AQUARID METEOR SHOWER
The Delta Aquarid Meteor Shower is so named because the radiant point from which its meteors appear to radiate from is located within the zodiacal constellation of Aquarius the water bearer, and more specifically the Delta star of Aquarius - Skat.
The Delta Aquarid shower is a moderate meteor shower and can produce up to 25 meteors per hour under perfect conditions. The Delta Aquariids are moderately fast meteors compared to other showers and typically travel at a velocity of 41 kilometres per second as they enter the Earth's atmosphere, in mph that’s a speed of roughly 91,714 miles per hour!
The Delta Aquarid meteor shower is known to produce a steady stream of meteors over several days, but only a fairly small amount per an hour (up to 30 an hour in perfect dark conditions).
About 5% to 10% of the Delta Aquariid meteors leave persistent trains, glowing ionized gas trails that last a second or two after the meteor has passed.
Although the Delta Aquariids are not particularly known for displaying bright meteors the shower can occasionally produce super bright meteors known as fireballs, which are exceptionally bright meteors (brighter than Venus) or bolide meteors (brighter than the Moon) that blaze across the night sky amazing all those that witness them. Sometimes you can even observe these meteors breaking up into fragments which we have witnessed with all of our guests during one of our stargazing events.
Unfortunately for those of us in the Northern hemisphere, this meteor shower is best placed for those in the Southern Hemisphere. The reason for this is because the radiant appears fairly low in the sky for us and rises higher in the Southern hemisphere’s skies. Nevertheless, the Delta Aquariid shower is still a great moderate meteor shower to look out for.
THE ALPHA CAPRICORNID METEOR SHOWER
The Alpha Capricornid Meteor Shower is so named because the radiant point from which its meteors appear to radiate from is located within the zodiacal constellation of Capricornus the sea goat, and more specifically the stars of the Alpha double star of Capricornus – the stars Prima Giedi + Algedi.
The Alpha Capricorniids are fairly slow meteors which typically travel at a velocity of 24 kilometres per second as they enter the Earth's atmosphere. In meteor terms this isn’t very fast but in mph that’s still an impressive speed of roughly 53,868 miles per hour!
Although The Capricornids is a minor meteor shower, often leaving us to see about 5 meteors an hour (in perfect conditions), this meteor shower is known to produce some lovely slow moving, colourful (often yellow) bright fireballs. A meteor is called a fireball when it reaches a magnitude (brightness) equal to or brighter than that of the planet Venus. Venus is about -4 in magnitude, a meteor must be brighter than this to be known as a fireball.
Just like the Delta Aquarid meteor shower, unfortunately for those of us in the Northern hemisphere, the Alpha Capricornid meteor shower is best placed for those in the Southern Hemisphere. Again, this is because the radiant appears fairly low in the sky for us and rises higher in the Southern hemisphere’s skies. Nevertheless, this minor meteor shower combined with the moderate Delta Aquarid shower is still a great meteor shower to look out for.
WHERE DO METEORS COME FROM? / PARENT BODIES – COMET 169P/NEAT + CONET 96P/MACHHOLZ
Most meteor showers are caused by comet debris that crosses Earth’s orbit, some showers are caused by asteroid debris.
The Delta Aquarid meteor shower is caused by the debris left behind from the comet 96P/Machholz.
There is some confusion as to the source of the Delta Aquarid meteor shower. It was thought that the Delta Aquariid meteor shower originated from the breakup of the Marsden and Kracht sungrazing comets. Recently however, another sungrazing comet called Comet 96P/Machholz has been identified as the likely source of the meteor shower.
Discovered in 1986 by Donald Machholz, the comet has an estimated diameter of 4 miles and takes just over 5 years to complete one orbit around the Sun. As the comet gets heated by the Sun, ice in the comet vaporises and loosens small bits of rock and dust which forms the stream of debris that produces the Delta Aquariids meteor shower.
The Alpha Capricornid meteor shower is caused by the debris left behind from the comet 169P/NEAT.
The Alpha Capricornids meteor shower was discovered by Hungarian astronomer Miklos von Konkoly-Thege in 1871. Peter Jenniskens and Jeremie Vaubaillon identified the parent body as asteroid 2002 EX12. This object is now called comet 169P/NEAT.
According to Jenniskens and Vaubaillon, the meteor shower became active around 3,500 to 5,000 years ago, when about half of the parent body disintegrated into dust. The dust cloud evolved into Earth's orbit recently, causing a shower with peak rates of 2-5/h, sometimes having outbursts of bright flaring meteors with rates up to 5-9 p/h.
The bulk of the comet dust will not be in Earth's path until the 24th century. The Alpha Capricornids are expected to become a major annual storm in 2220–2420 A.D., one that will be "stronger than any current annual shower."
WHAT CAUSES THE LIGHT FROM METEORS?
As a comet or asteroid travels through space, it leaves a trail of dust and debris behind it. When Earth intersects these trails, we slam into the dust and debris in their wake. The debris then enters the Earth’s atmosphere at incredibly high speed, generating immense amounts of energy that is released in the form of intense heat and light. Meteors tend to vary from the size of a sand grain to about as big as a pea. The bigger the piece of debris, the bigger and brighter the meteor.
When a meteoroid particle strikes the upper atmosphere at high speed, it heats up to around 1,650°C and starts to glow. The meteoroid also compresses and heats the air in front of it, exciting atoms like oxygen which in turn radiate light. Together, the two processes produce the bright, needle-like flashes known as meteors or "shooting stars."
Occasionally, a meteoroid may be large enough to survive it’s fiery journey through our atmosphere, landing somewhere on Earth. When a meteoroid manages to land on our planet, it becomes known as a meteorite.
METEOR COLOURS ❤️💙💜🧡💛☄️
When meteoroids burn up in our atmosphere, they can sometimes create beautifully colourful trails behind them. The colours that meteors display are partly caused by the presence of traces of elements such as sodium, iron and calcium, the same elements that are used to make fireworks colourful.
These elements become ionised as they travel through Earth’s atmosphere and emit a beautiful range of different coloured meteor trails as their particles burn up in the atmosphere. The colours that are emitted depend on the elements being excited.
Here are the colours associated with different elements found in meteors: 👇
🟠 Orange-yellow — sodium;
🟡 Yellow — iron;
🔵 Blue-green — magnesium;
🟣 Violet — calcium;
🔴 Red — atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen.
The speed at which the meteor enters the Earth’s atmosphere can also affect the colour. The faster a meteor moves, the more intense it’s colour may appear.
WHAT TO CONSIDER TO MAKE SURE YOU CAN SEE METEORS
The main thing you need to consider when looking for meteors from a meteor shower is the date when the Earth travels it’s furthest into the trail of debris left by the parent comet or asteroid. Around this period of time there will be a higher number of meteoroids entering the Earth’s atmosphere, this is the peak of the meteor shower.
The next most important thing to consider is the time that the radiant for the meteor shower will be high in the sky. The higher the radiant is in your visible sky, the higher your chances of viewing meteors will be.
However, sometimes the radiant for a shower may not be at its highest point in the sky when the skies are dark. You must also take the brightness of the skies into account along with the radiant’s location in order to maximise your chances of viewing meteors.
There are also other factors such as the Earth weather, the conditions of your viewing location and the Moon’s position and phase that will affect how easy it is to view meteors and need to be considered.
WHEN IS THE PEAK / THE BEST NIGHT TO WATCH?
This year the Delta Aquariid meteor shower is active between the 12th July – 23rd August, the Alpha Capricornid shower is active between the 3rd July – 15th August, however the peak night where both showers will be most active will be the evening of the 29th of July into the morning of the 30th.
Don’t worry if it’s cloudy on the peak night, it will still be possible to view meteors from both showers either side of the peak during their active period.
WHERE TO LOOK / THE RADIANT
The radiant for the Delta Aquarid meteor shower can be located in the constellation of Aquarius the water-bearer.
Aquarius can be found above the Southern horizon below and left of the asterism known as the Summer Triangle consisting of the three bright stars Deneb (in the constellation of Cygnus), Vega (in Lyra) and Altair (in Aquila), and also below the great square of Pegasus the flying horse.
The exact location for the radiant can be found next to the Delta star in Aquarius – Skat.
The radiant for the Alpha Capricornid meteor shower can be located in the constellation of Capricornus the goat.
Capricornus can also be found above the Southern horizon close by to Aquarius, just to the right of the water-bearer, and beneath the Summer Triangle asterism.
The exact location for the radiant can be found next to the Alpha star in Capricornus which is in fact a double star – the stars Algedi and Prima Giedi.
You can tell if a meteor belongs to a specific shower by tracing a line backwards from the direction it appeared to travel in across the sky. If this line leads you to the radiant’s location, you can tell that meteor belonged to that specific meteor shower.
You don’t need to know exactly where the meteors radiate from because meteors can appear anywhere in the sky. However, knowing where the radiant is may help you increase your chances of viewing meteors. If you can locate the radiant, try looking at a dark part of the sky around 45 degrees away to maximise your chances of viewing meteors. Meteors seen closer to the radiant will appear shorter / leave shorter trails compared to others further away from the radiant.
If you can find the asterism known as the great square of Pegasus, or the constellations Ophiuchus or Hercules these area of the sky may be a good place to focus on in order to maximise your chances of viewing meteors from both meteor showers.
WHAT TIME TO LOOK / RADIANT CONTINUED
As with many meteor showers (the Moon aside) the best time to head out and watch meteor showers is usually on the peak night between midnight and dawn, when the radiant is (usually) high in the sky and the skies are darkest. Don’t worry if you can’t head out this late, there should still be plenty of meteors about earlier in the night.
Although more meteors may be visible when the radiant is higher in the sky, the main thing you need to know about a meteor shower radiant, is that it has risen above the horizon. Once the radiant has risen in the sky there will be a higher chance of seeing meteors, and the higher the radiant has risen, the more meteors will be visible. Usually, if you wait until gone midnight, the radiant will be higher in the sky, and you will have a much greater chance of seeing meteors.
On the peak night of the 29th-30th of July, the radiant for the Alpha Capricornid meteor shower will be the first to rise above the Eastern horizon in the daytime at around 19:48pm BST. The radiant will reach its highest point in the sky in the South on the 30th at around 00:58am.
The radiant for the Delta Aquarid meteor shower will rise above the Eastern horizon a little later when the skies will be fairly dark at around 22:36pm. The radiant will reach transit on the 30th at around 03:10am towards the South.
Both the radiants for the Apha Capricornid and Delta Aquarid meteor showers will set after sunrise (05:11am) at 06:05 and 07:40 respectively.
If you can, we recommend heading out at around 23:00 and spending a couple of hours looking for meteors. If you head out at this the radiants will have risen a little in the sky and the skies will be dark. If you stay out for longer, the radiants will have risen higher in the sky and you may have a better chance of witnessing meteors.
If you head out early in the night before the radiant for the Delta Aquariids has risen, you might also be treated to something called an “Earth grazer” meteor (long, slow, colourful meteors that skim across the edge of our atmosphere).
WHERE TO VIEW FROM / VIEWING LOCATION
The location that you do your stargazing from can make a big difference to the amount of stars and in this case shooting stars that are possible to see in the night sky. The darker your viewing location, the more your eyes will adapt to the darkness and the more of the fainter meteors from a shower will be visible.
Ideally you want to find a safe dark location, with clear views of the sky, and as far away from sources of light such as street lights as possible.
DARK ADAPTATION / NIGHT VISION
Try not to look at sources of light such as your mobile phone or the Moon for around 15 minutes or so, this will allow your eyes to adapt to the dark conditions of your location. After around 15-30 minutes of letting your eyes adapt to the dark, the pupils of your eyes will dilate to their maximum aperture and the receptors in your eyes that are responsible for low light vision will have fully activated. This will allow more light to enter your eyes and more fainter night sky objects will be easier to see.
If you need to use a torch to light your way, we recommend using a torch that emits only red light. Red light has much less of an effect on your night vision.
If you want to use your phone, use it on its lowest brightness and you can always cover the screen with a red film to minimise its effect on your night vision. Star map/planetarium apps such as Stellarium often have a night mode that displays only in red light which can also help you keep your night vision.
Another tip to help you see more on nights with a bright moon is to keep the moon out of sight. If you have a large tree or building nearby to your location, try blocking the moon from your line of sight with the tree/building. This can help stop a bright moon from ruining your dark adapted night vision.
THE MOON / DARK SKIES
Sometimes the glow of the Moon can interfere with a meteor shower and spoil meteor shower views by lighting up the night sky and washing out the fainter meteors. When the Moon is bright it leaves only the brightest of meteors visible.
Fortunately for this year’s peak night of the Delta Aquarid and Alpha Capricornid meteor showers, the Moon will be only 25% illuminated and will set early in the night at around 22:56. This means the moon will not be causing any natural light pollution allowing us to view the fainter meteors from both showers.
VIEWING TIPS
• You don’t need a telescope or any special equipment, just your eyes and a bit of patience.
• Find a safe, dark location with clear unobstructed views and as far away from streetlights as possible. The darker your location, the more meteors you will see. Don’t worry too much if you can’t get somewhere dark, even if your viewing location isn’t very dark, you should still see the brighter meteors.
• Allow your eyes to adjust to the darkness and you will see more meteors. Our eyes require time to adjust to low levels of light. Try not to look at bright lights (such as a phone) for around 15-30 minutes and this will allow you to see many more meteors. If you do require to use a torch, use one which emits red light as this interferes with your night vision less than white light.
• Try blocking the Moon and other sources of light from your view to minimise their effect on your night vision.
• On nights with the Moon in the sky keep your back to the Moon and you will be looking at the darkest portion of the sky, increasing your chance of viewing faint meteors.
• Be mindful of other stargazers when using a torch, you don’t want to ruin other people’s meteor shower experience!
• You don’t need to know where the radiant for a meteor shower is to be able to view meteors but if you do, it can help. Once you’ve located the radiant in the sky, looking halfway between the horizon and the zenith (directly upwards), and 45 degrees from the radiant will improve your chances of viewing meteors (however, pay attention to the whole sky as they can appear anywhere). The closer to the radiant you look, the shorter the meteors will appear. The further away from the radiant you look, the longer they will appear.
• You can tell if a meteor belongs to a specific shower by tracing a line backwards from the direction it appeared to travel in across the sky. If this line leads you to the radiant’s location, you can tell that meteor belonged to that specific meteor shower.
• If you can find the asterism known as the great square of Pegasus, or the constellations Ophiuchus or Hercules, this may be a good place to focus on in order to maximise your chances of viewing meteors.
• You might want to take a blanket to lay on or a chair to recline in, so your neck doesn’t get strained whilst looking up.
• If you head out, wrap up well! Although our nights are currently fairly mild, it still can get quite chilly and you may end up being too cold to stay out and see any meteors. Bring a blanket to cover yourself in and a flask with a warm drink for extra comfort. ❄️🧤🧣
• You may wish to gather some of your friends and family to share this magical occasion too. You could always host a meteor watching party with music and drinks (but no bright lights!).
CLOSING WORDS FROM ASTRO DOG
After a long meteor shower drought, we are super excited to have the chance to see some more great meteor showers. We can’t wait to see if we witness any amazing fireballs during the Delta Aquarid and Aplha Capricornid meteor showers and we hope you all get to see some too!
Please also keep an eye out for our post on the great Perseid meteor shower!
As ever, interactions or shares are a great help, and we are eternally grateful for all your support.
Good luck everyone and clear skies!!! 💖