Double meteor showers peak this week

WAITSBURG — The Southern Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids meteor showers will overlap between July 28 and 31, 2026.

The two showers will peak this week, occurring back-to-back between July 28 and 31.

The Southern Delta Aquariids shower will arrive first, with the highest activity between July 28 and 30. At its strongest, there should be about 15 meteors an hour. They are not particularly bright, and appear to radiate from the area of Alpha Capricorni, a double star visible to the naked eye. The meteors are the result of debris left behind by comet 96/Machholz, which orbits the Sun every 5.27 years.

The Alpha Capricornids are a long-running shower from July 3 to August 15. Their strongest activity will coincide with the Aquariids beginning July 30 and 31. The meteors rise around 10 p.m., and are highest in the sky by 3 a.m. Their meteors originate from comet 169P/NEAT, which orbits the Sun every 4.2 years. The showers are less productive than the Aquariids, with around five meteors an hour at peak, but are brighter, faster, and more visible. They also throw off particularly visible fireballs. This shower can be seen from both hemispheres and radiates west of the star known as Delta Aquarii. This would be about 40 degrees east of the Alpha Capricornids shower.

Viewing these showers does not require binoculars or telescopes, since both narrow the field of vision and can work against the viewer. For best viewing, let your eyes adjust to the dark for 30 minutes, lie on your back, and scan a wide area of the sky.

The showers should be visible starting after midnight; the best time is between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m., from July 28 to July 31.

There are several mobile apps that can help plan, track, and view meteor showers. On Apple, there are Sky Guide, Sky Tonight, Night Sky 11, and Meteor Active.

On Android and Apple, there are Sky Safari 7, Stellarium Mobile, and Sky Walk 2.

The PhotoPills app is designed to help photographers plan, calculate exposures, depth of field, and other information to ensure successful photos of or influenced by space.