July’s Mysterious Meteor Shower
The Southern Delta Aquarids peak late in the month
Where did the Southern Delta Aquarids meteor shower originate from? It may be a mystery, but seeing it is not. Find out when and where to look.
Every year in late July a quiet meteor shower rains down on Earth. Producing approximately a meteor every five minutes at its peak, the Southern Delta Aquarid shower is a bit of a mystery. For most meteor showers, scientists have discovered the source behind the trail of dust and rocks. The Southern Delta Aquarids' source is unknown.
Meteor showers are normally produced when Earth's orbit brings it through the path of a comet. In general, the more recently the comet has passed, the stronger the shower. The longer ago the comet passed through the area, the weaker the shower. For example, the recent visit of Comet Tempel-Tuttle past Earth in 1966 was what caused the phenomenal Leonid storm that year, when 100,000 meteors streaked from the heavens per hour.
The Southern Delta Aquarids is strange in that it is still a relatively strong shower, as far as meteor showers are concerned, but it lost its parent comet long ago. The comet responsible for the shower was most likely disturbed into a different orbit or crashed into another object, thus ending its run around the sun. This meteor shower has a counterpart, called the Northern Delta Aquarids. This shower's debris trail runs nearly parallel to the Southern Delta Aquarids, and Earth passes through it around August 8 of each year. The source of this meteor shower is also a mystery. The Northern Delta Aquarids get very little attention because it is even weaker than its Southern counterpart and the much more exciting Perseid meteors peak four nights later.
Meteor showers are usually named for the part of the sky from which the meteors appear to emanate. As Earth passes through the stream of particles, they seem to flow from one constellation. So knowing the name of a meteor shower may help you to know where to look to find the shower. For the Southern Delta Aquarids, you must be looking toward the constellation Aquarius.
For the United States, Aquarius rises in the east southeast portion of the sky in the before midnight. It takes all night to cross the sky and starts sloping toward the western horizon as the sun rises in the east. You will need to set your alarm clock early if you wish to go out and have a peek when the radiant is at its highest point. The moon is absent while Aquarius is up, giving favorable viewing conditions. Meteor showers are best seen without any optical aid, but if you have a telescope and bothered to wake up, you might as well turn it to Uranus, hiding among the stars of Aquarius. As dawn's light arrives the show will come to a close. You may feel tempted to belt out a certain tune. Go ahead, there's probably no one around to hear you.
This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius, the age of Aquarius...
