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MARYLAND – There is nothing like sitting out on a hot summer night and watching fireballs spinning in the sky. Over the next few weeks, you can see meteors every time you watch in the evening. This is thanks to the cosmic shows of summer meteor showers – the Delta Aquarids and the glorious Perseids.
The Delta Aquarids take place from July 12 to August 30. 23 and culminates from 27 to 28 July.
Think of the Delta Aquarides as the most common repetition of the most reliable Perseids. This typically prolific meteor shower runs from July 17 to August 1. 24, reaching the night of August 12th to 13th.
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The Delta Aquarid Meteor Shower, produced by debris left by comets Marsden and Kracht, is an average show, producing about 20 meteors per hour at its peak.
There's a bit of bad news – a full moon at the top on July 27 will erase the weakest shooting stars – but there's good news too: Slow shower meteors will still fly when the Perseid meteor shower begins, so you should be able to see meteors flying in opposite directions.
RELATED : Supermoons, lunar eclipse, meteor showers in Maryland in 2018
The Perseids, who are usually rich in fireballs that create long dramatic trails in the sky, promise to Be worth waiting for this year. At the top of the shower, a thin ribbon will be all that is visible from a crescent moon and the meteors should fly at a rate of 60 to 100 per hour.
In the years of "overflow", like 2016, the intensity can reach 200 meteors per hour.
The meteorite expert at NASA Bill Cooke does not expect an explosion this year, but said the Perseids will still be the best meteor shower in 2018.
"This year the moon will be close to the new moon, it will be a crescent, which means it will happen before Perseide's show starts after midnight, "Cooke told Space.com." The moon is very supportive of the Perseids this year , and this will probably make the Perseids the best rain of 2018 for people who want to go out and see her. "
Since mid-July, people have reported seeing fireballs in Annapolis, Chesapeake Beach, Halethorpe and Olney
The historically brilliant Perseids are produced by the comet Swift-Tuttle, discovered in 1862. The meteors fall between the constellations Perseus and Cbadiopeia, but it is enough to look up and to be able
When to look
With both meteor showers, the best listening times are after midnight around the hours before dawn, but you might be able to see some of them as soon as you 're It is dark.
The dark sky away from light pollution provides the best viewing conditions, but there are also good places to see meteors in major cities.
In Maryland, sky observers recommend watching from Greenbelt Park in Prince George County. The Howard County Conservancy in Woodstock also offers an event from August 12 to 13, where people can gather to watch the Perseids, with high-powered telescopes and a meteorite expert in hand.
Here are some other tips for observing NASA meteors:
- Take something comfortable to sit or lie down, like a lounge chair or yoga mat so you can see the biggest part of the sky.
- Be patient. In ideal conditions, you should be able to see a meteor in about half an hour.
- Leave binoculars and telescopes at home. They will steal the best views. Meteors are amazing without them, and the use of binoculars or telescopes will limit the amount of sky you can see and increase the chances of seeing only dark skies.
- Avoid looking at your cell phone or any other light source. . If you need to see something, use a red light. Some flashlights have interchangeable filters; if it is not the case, you can still paint the transparent filter with red nail polish
– By Patch Beth Dalbey editor
[image] [NAS] / Bill Ingalls
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