Here’s everything you need to know about the tonight’s meteor shower.
Summer is the season of shooting stars, and tonight’s Alpha Capricornids meteor shower is another ongoing event not to be missed. Although the shower will only produce a few meteors per hour, those that are visible may be bright fireballs – meteors that are much brighter than others.
Unfortunately, due to a nearly full Moon, viewing conditions will be poor this year. There are, however, ways to increase your chances of seeing one – read on for more information.
When can you see the Alpha Capricornids meteor shower 2023?
On July 30/31, 2023, the Alpha Capricornid meteor shower will peak before dawn. The shower will produce shooting stars until August 15th.
Any visible shooting stars will appear in the night sky as slow yellow fireballs. Because the shower’s peak occurs two days before the next full Moon, viewing conditions will be poor.
The Delta Aquariids meteor shower, which can send up to 25 meteors across the night sky per hour, will also peak on July 30/31. However, many of the shooting stars, like the Alpha Capricornids, will be obscured by light from the full Moon.
What is the best way to see the Alpha Capricornids meteor shower?
To see the Alpha Capricornids meteor shower, look up before dawn in a dark and clear area free of light pollution.
Because shooting stars can be seen anywhere in the night sky, we recommend not using any equipment to look up – tools like binoculars and telescopes will significantly narrow your field of view compared to the naked eye. For the best meteor viewing, you should be able to see as much of the sky as possible.
Check the weather forecast for cloud coverage (more clouds equals poor meteor shower viewing), set aside 15-20 minutes to adjust your eyes to the dark, and be prepared with something warm to wear and/or drink.
What exactly is a meteor shower?
When the Earth passes through a stream of debris left behind by a comet, a meteor shower occurs. When the debris’s dust and rocks collide with the Earth’s atmosphere, we see those shooting lines and streaks in the sky.
The debris is typically ejected from a comet as it orbits the Sun, with the heat from our star melting ice and breaking off pieces of rock, leaving a trail of dust in its wake. The peak of a meteor shower occurs when the Earth passes through the densest part of a comet’s dust trail.
The 169P/NEAT comet is responsible for the debris that burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere during the Alpha Capricornids meteor shower. Astronomers believe that the Alpha Capricornids meteor shower will become the most powerful yearly shower between the years 2220 and 2420.
How many meteors will fly through the sky?
During the Alpha Capricornids meteor shower, you should see about five meteors per hour. This is a very low hourly rate when compared to other meteor showers this year; for example, the Perseid meteor shower, which is scheduled to peak on August 12, 2023, has an hourly rate of 100.
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