RRI.CO.ID Jakarta - On the night of July 30 into the early hours of July 31, two meteor showers will reach their peak at roughly the same time. The Southern Delta Aquariids could scatter numerous faint streaks across the sky, while the Alpha Capricornids may produce fewer but much brighter fireballs. It will be a rare double feature for skywatchers willing to stay up late.

Unfortunately, viewing conditions in 2026 will be challenging. July’s full moon arrives on July 29, leaving the moon approximately 98 percent illuminated during the showers’ peak the following night. Its glare will brighten the night sky and obscure many of the fainter meteors. Still, patient observers may spot some of the Alpha Capricornids’ signature fireballs shining through the moonlight.

Why do the meteor showers peak together? Meteor showers occur when Earth passes through streams of rocky material left behind by comets. The particles strike the planet’s atmosphere at high speed, heating up and producing the streaks we call shooting stars. “It is by complete happenstance that the debris trails from two different comets intersect where our planet passes through, creating the overlapping peaks,” Devon Salasin, head astronomer at Stargazing Moab conveyed. The Southern Delta Aquariids are active from mid-July into late August, while the Alpha Capricornids run from early July into mid-August, so meteors from both may appear before and after the official peak.

There is a visible difference between the two. “Besides originating from slightly different spots in the sky, known as the radiant, the Delta Aquariids offer more frequent, faint streaks, while the Alpha Capricornids are famous for slower, dazzling fireballs,” Alex Gianninas, an astronomy professor at Connecticut College said. Under ideal dark skies, the Southern Delta Aquariids can produce around 25 meteors per hour, while the Alpha Capricornids usually produce around five per hour.

What exactly is a fireball? It is an unusually bright meteor. “Most meteors are very small, sometimes the size of dust particles, whereas meteors that create a visible fireball are larger, from pebble to boulder-sized chunks of rock,” says Gianninas. Fireballs may also travel more slowly and leave glowing trails that persist after the meteor disappears. “Colors of various ionizing elements can be more visible,” Salasin conveyed.

Here’s how to watch them. Find the darkest location possible and allow your eyes at least 20 minutes to adjust. No telescope is needed. Meteors can appear anywhere overhead, so reclining with a wide view of the sky gives you the best chance. Both showers are best viewed after midnight, when their radiant points rise higher. While the nearly full moon will wash out much of the Delta Aquariids’ faint activity, an Alpha Capricornid fireball could still make the late-night vigil worthwhile. “Stay with it, and you can maybe see a glimpse of what this shower is best known for — slow-moving, bright fireballs,” Salasin said.

The next major meteor shower is coming soon. The Perseids, one of the most prolific showers of the year, are due to peak the night of August 12 into the morning of August 13. That sets up another astronomical double feature: a total solar eclipse in the afternoon, followed by the meteor shower at night. While the eclipse will only be visible in a small path across Greenland, Iceland, and Spain, the Perseids will be visible from most of the Northern Hemisphere and down to the Southern Hemisphere’s mid-latitudes.

Source : Nat Geo