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Still recovering from the magical glow of last night's Buck Moon? Well, another cool celestial event is about to happen in our skies. The stars have aligned for two dazzling meteor showers to peak on the very same night. Stargazers, that's your cue to dig out your binoculars and telescopes!
In an extremely rare alignment, the Delta Aquariids and the Alpha Capricornids showers – which occupy the southern sky and are both most visible in the Southern Hemisphere – will peak tonight (July 30-31). But because these showers fall just one day after the July full moon, you'll have to compete with its strong lunar glow to spot the brightest shooting stars. Here’s when and how to see the rare double meteor shower in Victoria.
When to see the Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids in Melbourne and Victoria?
Late July is set to deliver a cosmic double act, with two meteor showers peaking in our skies on the very same night. The Southern Delta Aquariids and the Alpha Capricornids will be most active between midnight on Thursday, July 30 and 4am Friday, July 31.
What can you expect to see on the night?
At its absolute peak on July 30-31, the Delta Aquariids could produce up to a whopping 20 shooting stars per hour. Although fainter, the Alpha Capricornids meteor shower is famous for producing impressively bright fireballs, and you can expect to see two to five meteors per hour.
The catch? The peak comes just a day after July’s full moon, which will sit in the sky for most of the night, washing out fainter trails and leaving only the brightest meteors to shine through.
How to see the double meteor shower in Melbourne and Victoria?
In order to spot this sparkly sight, it helps to have a little bit of astronomic know-how. Being able to locate various constellations and celestial bodies helps a lot, as these meteor showers will radiate from the Aquarius and Capricornus constellations. Fortunately, there are plenty of astrology resources online to help you with this.
Other tips to bear in mind for meteor-spotting are heading to your chosen stargazing spot in the early hours of the morning and ensuring you wait long enough to give your eyes time to adjust to the darkness (about half an hour). And considering it is the depths of winter, bring plenty of warm layers and blankets!
“In the early evening, the radiants (the points where meteors appear to originate) rise in the northeast,” says Associate Professor Devika Kamath from Macquarie University’s School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences. “By midnight, they’re high in the northern sky, and by pre-dawn, they drift toward the northwest. Scanning this arc will maximise your chances of catching long, dramatic trails.”
Happy stargazing!
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