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Double Meteor Shower Delight
Context:
The Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower peaks in late July, and this year it will coincide with the Alpha Capricornids, a smaller meteor shower.
Key Highlights:
- Southern Delta Aquariids: These occur annually in North America’s late summer.
- Named after the constellation Aquarius, near the bright star Delta Aquarii, from which they appear to radiate.
- Peak activity is expected early Tuesday morning, with 15 to 20 meteors visible per hour in the Northern Hemisphere under dark skies.
- Viewing will be even better in the Southern Hemisphere and the shower lasts through August 21.
- Alpha Capricornids: This smaller shower should produce around five meteors per hour.
- It also lasts through August 15. Although not high volume, they often produce very bright meteors.
- The University of Warwick astronomer states, “One bright one is worth 20 faint ones.”
What is a Meteor Shower?
- They are also known as “shooting stars,” but meteors are not stars.
- They are streaks of light caused by dust and sand-sized rocks burning up as they enter Earth’s upper atmosphere at extremely high speeds, often exceeding 100,000 kilometres per hour.
- Air resistance heats these rocks, causing them to glow.
- It is named after the constellation containing the “radiant,” the point in the sky where meteors appear to originate.
- They originate from debris left by comets.
- Delta Aquariids: Debris from comet 96P/Machholz.
- Alpha Capricornids: Debris from comet 169P/NEAT.
Key Terms:
- Meteoroid: It is defined as a small rocky or metallic body travelling through space.
- They are smaller than asteroids, typically ranging from the size of a grain of dust to about one metre in diameter.
- They can be fragments ejected from celestial bodies like the Moon or Mars.
- Types based on composition: Iron, Stone and Stony-iron.
- Meteor: The visible streak of light produced as the meteoroid burns up in the atmosphere and produces a bright streak of light in the sky.
- This process occurs at altitudes around 100 km above sea level. Most meteoroids burn up completely during this passage, but some may survive.
- Meteorite: It is the remnant of a meteoroid that survives its fiery passage through the atmosphere and hits on the Earth’s surface.
- They vary in size, typically ranging from small pebbles to larger rocks.
- They are classified similarly to meteoroids into three main types.
- They provide valuable scientific information about the early solar system and the materials that formed planets.