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stargazer will before long be capable to witness a " double " meteor shower as both theAlpha Capricornidsand theSouthern Delta Aquariidspeak next calendar week .
The twin - skywatching event is " just an amazing coincidence,“Nicholas Moskovitz , a planetary astronomer at Lowell Observatory in Arizona , told Live Science .
A 2016 Perseid meteor streaks across the sky over Spruce Knob, West Virginia. Perseids are one of the major meteor showers occurring annually and often coincide with the Southern Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids.
Meteor showers occur when Earth ’s compass intersects a comet ’s track . The rocky junk left behind by the comet bite up as it enters Earth ’s atmospheric state . During the double shooting star showers this calendar month , Earth will cross the area of comet 96P / Machholz — which do the Southern Delta Aquariids that will top out July 29 to July 30 — and comet 169P / NEAT , which give birth the Alpha Capricornids that will top out July 30 to July 31 .
For two shooting star showers to top out within 24 time of day of each other is " a small chip strange , " Moskovitz said . " But the idea of multiple showers being seeable in a unmarried night ? surely not too rare . "
There are more than 900 meteoroid exhibitor throughout the year , which means that on mean , two to three meteoroid shower occur per night , Moskovitz noted .
But not all of these are " major " meteor cascade , like thePerseidsorGeminids , in which more than 100 meteoroid blaze across the sky every hr . Most meteoroid shower are minor , and astronomers are only beginning to examine and measure these cascade consistently thanks tonewly develop instruments , Moskovitz said .
Meteor shower occur at steady intervals thanks to their predictable orbits around the sunshine . The modest amount of annual variation in their intensity is decide by when comet release debris and how long the dust has been float in distance . portend meteor rain shower has significant implications for the safety of space vehicle and world journey in quad , said Moskovitz , who heads the Lowell Observatory Cameras for All - Sky Meteor Surveillance ( LO - CAMS ) , a connection of camera that monitor meteors .
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At its tiptop , the Southern Delta Aquariids will treat viewers to around 20 to 25 meteoroid per hour ( so - called background shooting star showers are typically around five shooting star per hour ) . The Southern Delta Aquariids will appear " fairly faint , " Moskovitz say . " You really need to get to a dark website , away from igniter , traffic , stay off your cell telephone and let your eyes acclimatise to the dark and you may have a opportunity of seeing some of those faint objective . "
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The Alpha Capricornids are much less frequent , but they are often consociate with " vivid fireballs with bigger meteor lump come in and fire up and getting brilliant and sort of more spectacular , " Moskovitz tell . These outstandingly bright meteors are made of marble - sizing particles . Fainter meteors are usually grain - size .
The double meteor rain shower will bebest viewedin the Southern Hemisphere where the radiant , or the apparent point from which the shower originates , will be almost overhead . People in the Northern Hemisphere can also see the meteor shower if there is a vindicated advantage of the southern horizon .
Both meteor showers will proceed until mid - August .
" Almost all meteor showers heyday in the early morning hours between 2 and 4 a.m. , " Moskovitz tell . " So if you do want to catch either one of these , your best luck of seeing meteors are to get to a dark site and do so after midnight , " he said .
Both shower bath are well viewed with the defenseless eye . But to make the most of otherskywatching events this year , you may need a newpair of binocularsor agood backyard telescope .
