A trio of somewhat smaller meteor showers look for your
attention this month. Maybe not the grand show of the Leonid
showers in November, but nonetheless interesting to see.
A trio of somewhat smaller meteor showers look for your attention this month. Maybe not the grand show of the Leonid showers in November, but nonetheless interesting to see.
The Southern Delta Aquarid meteor shower usually takes top honors in July, and this year should be no exception. The radiant lies near the constellation Aquarius. The showers begin on July 12, with the peak around July 29. The best time to observe would be the weekend of the 16, because we have a new Moon at that time. These meteors have good speed and usually appear faint, with a count of ten to twenty per hour.
Another small shower, the Alpha Capricornids, usually puts on a good show because they occasionally produce fireballs. They start around July 3 to August 15, with a peak on July 30. As the name suggests, the radiant lies in the constellation Capricornus, which is located very low in the southern skies. So any meteors seen from our area here in the north tend to have long trails. These traits of fireballs and long trails make these showers certainly worth watching.
The last of our three showers is actually a very large shower in August, but activity starts in July. The Perseids slowly begin in mid-July and build up to the August peak. The best time to view them is in the early morning when Perseus, the Hero, appears higher in the sky.
Constellation of the Month:
No one ever seems to like scorpions. No one even seems to say anything nice about scorpions. Well, when it comes to the constellations, Scorpius is one of my favorites. Not just because that is my sign, but also because it is one of the few constellations that even looks like its namesake. It is one of the larger designs in the sky. Scorpius used to be even bigger, until the Romans decided there should be 12 constellations in the zodiac, instead of 11, so they made the two claws into the arms of the balance in Libra.
The bright star, Antares, is the scorpion’s heart. Antares is one of the reddest stars in the sky. Its name means that it is the “rival of Mars”. As most know, Mars is red as well, and when it goes along the ecliptic just north of Antares, they look as if they are competing with each other.
Remember how Orion was killed by the scorpion. Now the Orion in the sky keeps as far as he can from the scorpion in the sky. As soon as Orion sees Scorpius rising in the east, he sets in the west.
Just as Orion is the brilliant central constellation of the winter evening sky, so Scorpius is the brilliant central constellation of the summer evening sky.
Take your binoculars to this scorpion in the sky; there is an awful lot to see here. Clear skies.
