2 Meteor Showers Over VA Skies: When To Look Up

VIRGINIA — If you've been longing since spring for meteor showers, you're about to be rewarded as the rambling Delta Aquariid meteor shower is underway.

While the peak began Thursday night, Virginia experienced a series of storms, but Saturday may offer some clearing of the night skies and an opportunity to watch the ultimate star search show.

One way to look at the Delta Aquariids, which produce between 10 and 20 meteors an hour at the peak, is as a dress rehearsal for summer's main shooting star event, the prolific Perseid meteor shower.

The Delta Aquariids reliably produce meteors for a couple of days on either side of the peak date and will continue to fire through about Aug. 23.

To see the 2021 Delta Aquariids, it's best to head outside between midnight and dawn, regardless of where you live.

Harsh light from a waning gibbous moon will likely wash out a good number of the meteors, which are faint to begin with because the shower favors the Southern Hemisphere, according to Earthsky.org.

That bright moon will wane in the first week of August. The Perseid meteor shower, which runs July 17 to Aug. 24, will be well underway by that point, and viewing conditions should be ideal for the Aug. 11-12 peak.

The Perseids are often regarded as the best meteor shower of the year.

• Related: 2021 Guide To Meteor Showers And Supermoons

NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke told Space.com that 2021 should be a stellar year for the Perseids, which are known for bright, persistent trains. If skies are clear, skywatchers will be able to see about 100 shooting stars an hour, Cooke said, though he explained that in more typical conditions, people should be able to see one meteor every minute.

"The Perseids are rich in fireballs, so they'll be bright," Cooke said.

Cooke, who leads the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, said meteor shower watching requires an investment in time and preparation. Some tips:

• Get as far away from city lights as possible.
• Give your eyes about 30-45 minutes to adapt to the darkness.
• Take in as much of the sky as possible; take along a reclining lawn chair or a blanket and lie flat on your back.
• It can be helpful to find the radiant point (for the Perseids, that's the prominent constellation of Perseus; for the Delta Aquariids, it's the constellation Aquarius the Water Bearer). But avoid staring directly at it. The longer streaks are visible farther away from the radiant point.

Also, Cooke told Space.com, ditch the cell phone.

"The bright screen can throw a wrench in your efforts to adjust your night vision," he said. "My suggestion to my friends who want to observe meteors is, leave your phone inside."

So, is the shooting star a Delta Aquariid or a Perseid?

To distinguish a Delta Aquariid from a Perseid meteor, the short answer is that the former appear to fly from the south and the Perseids from the north-northeast.

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— By Beth Dalbey and Elizabeth Janney