07/29/2019 – Ephemeris – The South Delta Aquariid meteor shower is at peak now

Ephemeris for Monday, July 29th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 47 minutes, setting at 9:12, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:26. The Moon, 2 days before new, will rise at 4:30 tomorrow morning.

The South Delta Aquariid meteor shower is at its peak now. It’s not that great of a meteor shower. If its radiant were at the zenith we might expect 25 meteors an hour. The radiant will be highest low in the south at 3 a.m. However along with meteors appearing to radiate from the south from this meteor shower we expect growing numbers of meteors coming from the northeastern sky because the Perseid meteor shower that peaks around August 13th is beginning to be seen. The Perseids will be visible all night, but the South Delta Aquariids will be best seen after midnight. I suggest that you look for the Perseids before peak this year because the bright Moon will interfere at its peak.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

South Delta Aquariid meteor shower at peak and Perseids firing up at 3 a.m. July 30 2019. PerR and DAqrR are the radiants.

07/27/2017 – Ephemeris – Two meteor showers, one peaking another ramping up

Ephemeris for Thursday, July 27th. The Sun rises at 6:23. It’ll be up for 14 hours and 49 minutes, setting at 9:13. The Moon, 3 days before first quarter, will set at 11:50 this evening.

We are in the season for meteor showers. Today the South Delta Aquariid Meteor Shower will reach peak. This is a not very active shower where the meteors will seem to come from low in the southeastern sky after midnight. The radiant will rotate to the south by 5 a.m. The moon won’t bother it for the next few days. The number of meteors seen will be under 20 per hour. This long-lasting shower will still add a few meteors when the famous Perseid meteor shower begin to appear, which is around now. These meteors will seem to come from the northeastern part of the sky, and will reach peak for us in the evening hours of August 12th. On that night the Moon will brighten the sky after 11:30 p.m. So for the next two weeks both shower meteors can be seen.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The sky at 1 a.m. tomorrow morning, July 28, 2017 showing the South Delta Aquariid (DAqR) and Perseid (PerR) meteor radiants. Created using my LookingUp program.