Today’s Delta Aquarid Meteor Shower, 20 Shooting Stars Will Be Visible Every Hour

Indonesian people can witness the peak of the Delta Aquarid and Capricornid meteor showers on 28-29 July 2021 which will come together. According to the LAPAN Science Education Center, the peak of this meteor shower occurred on July 28 at 10.00 WIB / 11.00 WITA / 12.00 WIT.

The public can watch it from July 28 at 19.45 WIB/WITA/WIT from the East-Southeast to July 29 at 05.30 WIB/WITA/WIT from the West-Southwest with a maximum intensity of 14-15 meteors/hour and a speed of 147,600 km/hour. .

This meteor shower is thought to be formed from the dust remnants of comet 96P/Machholz. The comet is named after the radian point (the starting point of meteor showers) located in the star Delta Aquarii (Skat) in the constellation Aquarius.

Delta Aquariid is active from July 12 to August 23 and is best seen before astronomical dawn (around 03.00–04.00 WIB/WITA/WIT). The peak of the Delta Aquarid meteor shower also coincides with the peak of the Capricornid meteor shower, which has been active since July 3 and ends on August 15.

The Capricornid meteor shower is formed from the dust remnants of comet 169P/NEAT. The speed of the comet Capricornid is slower than the Delta Aquarid, which is 86,400 km/hour. The maximum intensity of this meteor shower is also smaller, only 5 meteors/hour.

This phenomenon can be seen with the naked eye, with clear weather conditions without any obstacles around the field of view. It takes patience to wait for this meteor shower given the relatively little intensity.

In addition, the Moon’s light can interfere with the observations of these two meteor showers because they are still entering the Reducing Moon phase. In addition to the meteor shower, at the end of this month, July 31-August 1, there will be a celestial phenomenon of the Late New Moon Phase. The late nemesis phase is one of the phases of the Moon when the configuration between the Sun, Earth and Moon forms a right angle (90°) and occurs after the full Moon phase. The new phase this time is the second in this month after happening on July 2 last. The peak of the final neighbour’s phase occurred at 20.16.07 WIT / 21.16.07 WITA / 22.16.07 WIT.

This late new moon can only be seen at sunrise at midnight on August 1 from the East-Northeast direction, culminating in the North before sunrise and then setting in the West-Northwest at midday. The Moon is 402,423 km from Earth (geocentric) and is in the vicinity of the constellation Aries.

Photo: dailymail
Editor: Ridian Eka Saputra

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