🌅 Peak Week for Meteor Showers

SOURCE

American Meteor Society

WHAT TO KNOW

• Three meteor showers are currently streaking across the southern sky: the Southern delta Aquariids, alpha Capricornids, and Perseids. To get a good look, astronomers say to find a dark area after midnight, eliminate artificial light from things like your phone, and look south as your eyes adjust.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The Southern delta Aquariids and alpha Capricornids will peak tonight into the early morning, producing up to 20 to 30 meteors per hour. The mighty Perseids and its 50 to 100 meteors per hour won’t peak until August 12 to 13, though astronomers say this week could be a better time to view the shower as the Moon will be much brighter by then.

CONNECT THE DOTS

• “Meteoroids” are rocks in space that can range in size from grains of dust to a small asteroid. When a meteoroid enters the Earth’s gravity and burns up in the atmosphere, we call it a “meteor.” When a meteoroid survives the trip and reaches the Earth’s surface, we call it a “meteorite.”