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Two meteor showers are set to peak this week. Here's how to see them

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Look up at the night sky this week for a chance to see high-speed meteors and bright fireballs from two meteor showers set to peak around the same time.

The Southern Delta Aquariids will be most active Monday night through early Tuesday and could ring in a viewing of up to 25 meteors per hour depending on your location. And on Tuesday night, the minor shower Alpha Capricornids — known for its bright fireballs — could also bring five meteors per hour to the celestial party.

Meteor showers are the debris left by comets and asteroids orbiting the sun that Earth encounters annually at some point during its orbital path. Wednesday night is the best time to view both showers, as the moon wanes and loses about 8% illumination each night.

To view meteor showers, it is best to look with your eyes only and not use any equipment such as binoculars or a telescope, as you’ll want a clear view of the entire sky. The best time to see meteors will be at around 4 a.m. local time when the radiant, the constellation from which meteor showers appear to originate, will be the highest in the sky. Both meteor showers will be visible across the world, although the Northern Hemisphere may see lower rates of meteors per hour — only up to 10 — because the radiant will be lower in the sky.

While the Perseid meteor shower is still a few weeks out from its peak during the evening of August 11, it has also been active in the night sky since mid-July and can be seen alongside these other showers.

Earlier in July, a fireball streaked across the sky in broad daylight over parts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and other states in the US Northeast, sparking excitement across the East Coast. Some meteor enthusiasts captured the rare spectacle on camera.

Here are the remaining meteor showers that are expected to peak in 2024:

  • Draconids: October 7-8
  • Orionids: October 20-21
  • Southern Taurids: November 4-5
  • Northern Taurids: November 11-12
  • Leonids: November 17-18
  • Geminids: December 13-14
  • Ursids: December 21-22

There are five more full moons this year, according to the Farmers’ Almanac:

  • August 19: Sturgeon moon
  • September 17: Harvest moon
  • October 17: Hunter’s moon
  • November 15: Beaver moon
  • December 15: Cold moon