Evgeny Burmistrov, an astronomy expert from Perm National Research Polytechnic University (PNRPU), has shared details about a meteor shower that will soon be visible from Earth. The Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower will appear in the night sky as early as late July, reaching its peak on the night of July 31: the intensity of the shower could reach up to 25 “shooting stars” per hour.
Image generated by the DALL-E neural network
The expert notes that this meteor shower differs from most others: the meteors do not move vertically but almost horizontally, parallel to the Earth’s surface. The reason for this trajectory lies in the low position of the radiant (the point from which the meteors appear to originate) near the southeastern horizon. As a result, the luminous streaks travel a longer path through the atmosphere and remain visible for a longer duration compared to most other meteor showers.
The parent body of the Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower is believed to be comet 96P/Machholz. It completes one orbit around the Sun in about 5.2 years. When the comet approaches the Sun, its icy core heats up, and the ice transitions from a solid state directly into a gaseous state. The released gases carry away particles of cometary dust, which are distributed along the entire orbit, forming a meteor trail.
The expert also explained how the meteor shower got its name: “Aquariid” comes from the Latin name for the constellation Aquarius; “Southern” indicates that the radiant is located in the southern part of the constellation, while “Delta” refers to the nearest bright star in that region of the sky. Previously, the Moscow Planetarium noted that the most favorable conditions for observing this meteor shower will occur in the Southern Hemisphere of Earth, but it will also be visible in Russia.
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