Latest news with #Capricornids
Time of India
2 days ago
- Science
- Time of India
Double Meteor Shower: Two meteor showers are peaking tonight, here's how to see them
This one's a double bonanza for the stargazers! You don't have to run to a Coldplay concert to witness a sky full of stars, for tonight, the sky is set to host not just one but two meteor showers at their peak! The Southern Delta Aquariids and the Alpha Capricornids . This rare cosmic double‑feature promises up to 25 shooting stars per hour, with fireballs lighting up the dark skies. Cherry on the cake? You don't even need a telescope to witness the surreal wonder under the sky! Double meteor shower: What makes it special On the night of July 29–30, Earth slices through debris trails from two comets simultaneously. The Southern Delta Aquariids, shed by Comet 96P/Machholz, produce faint but steady meteors, best seen from the Southern Hemisphere. Meanwhile, the Alpha Capricornids, from Comet 169P/NEAT, offer rarer but brighter fireballs that light up the night sky. The Southern Delta Aquariids are a meteor shower visible from mid-July to mid-August each year, peaking on 28 or 29 July. The shower travels at a velocity of 25 miles per second, according to the American Meteor Society (AMS), and is best seen by those living further south. On the other hand, Alpha Capricornids is a meteor shower that takes place as early as 7 July and continues until around 15 August. The meteor shower was discovered by Hungarian astronomer Miklos von Konkoly-Thege in 1871. This shower has infrequent but relatively bright meteors, with some fireballs. Individually, each shower is mild: the Aquariids typically generate 15–20 meteors per hour, and the Capricornids around 5 per hour. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Mini House for 60 sqm for Seniors with Toilet and Bath (Price May Surprise You) Pre Fabricated Homes | Search Ads Search Now Undo However, together, they offer a lovely blend: they deliver a show of up to 25 meteors per hour, and under dark, moon‑free skies, even more. How to witness the celestial star show (when and where) Time: The best viewing time is typically after midnight and before dawn, when the radiant point of the shower (the constellation Aquarius) is highest in the sky. Capricornids peak around midnight, while Aquariids crest closer to 2-3 a.m. local time. The moon will be a waxing crescent with minimal illumination (23–27% of its surface lit up), setting early in the evening, which provides darker skies and better visibility for even fainter meteors. Look direction: Look towards the southern sky to observe the Southern Delta Aquariids. The radiant point (where the meteors seem to originate) for the Alpha Capricornids is within the constellation Capricornus, which is located in the southern part of the sky. However, meteors can appear anywhere, so scanning the entire southern sky is best. Location: Find a spot far away from city lights and light pollution, such as rural areas or national forests. Consider looking for certified International Dark Sky Parks, which offer optimal viewing conditions. Eyes on the sky, no equipment needed: Give your eyes at least 20-30 minutes to adapt to the darkness for optimal viewing. Avoid looking at any bright lights, including your phone, during this time. You don't need a telescope or binoculars to see the meteors; your naked eyes are sufficient. In fact, meteors can appear anywhere in the sky, so a wider field of view is better. Be patient: Alpha Capricornids are known for producing fewer meteors (about 5 per hour at their peak) but are notable for their bright fireballs. The shower will last until dawn, giving you plenty of time to catch glimpses of meteors. The Southern Delta Aquariids tend to be fainter than other meteor showers like the Perseids, so patience is crucial for spotting them. What's next? Think you might miss this window for the free of cost light show? Don't worry! The legendary Perseid meteor shower is gearing up and will peak on August 12–13, though a bright full moon may dampen visibility this year. However, Eta Aquariids and early Perseid activity might sneak into tonight's show, especially if you catch meteors flying from northern skies. Stargazers ready for exceptional meteor shower on November 21-22
Axios
2 days ago
- Science
- Axios
Seattle's night sky: A celestial triple feature
The next few weeks may bring a celestial triple feature to Seattle's skies — if the clouds cooperate. What's happening: The Alpha Capricornids, which is capable of producing bright fireballs that can punch through light pollution, peak Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the American Meteor Society. So do the Southern Delta Aquariids, which deliver faint but steady meteors, the society says. Plus, the Perseids, one of the most anticipated showers of the year, is ramping up ahead of its mid-August peak. State of play: A waxing moon and cloudy evenings this week could dim visibility in Seattle, as usual, but a break in the clouds — or a surprise shift in the forecast — might still offer a glimpse of the show. In Seattle, both the Alpha Capricornids and Southern Delta Aquariids are best viewed facing south. Look for Capricornids after midnight and Aquariids between 1-4am, when their radiants are highest. H ow to watch: Find a dark spot, lie back, and look up.
Scientific American
4 days ago
- Science
- Scientific American
Summer Meteor Showers, Short Summer Days and Ancient Arthropods
Rachel Feltman: Happy Monday, listeners! For Scientific American 's Science Quickly, I'm Rachel Feltman. It's been a while, but we're finally back with our usual science news roundup. Let's catch up on some of the science news you might have missed in the last week or so. If last Tuesday seemed to fly right by, that's probably because it was a little shorter than usual. The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service says that July 22 was around .8 milliseconds short of the standard 24 hours. That's slightly less dramatic than the almost 1.4 milliseconds that were missing from July 10, and scientists anticipate another ever-so-slightly truncated day on August 5. Now, while there were plenty of headlines about these missing fractions of a milliseconds, it's not actually news that the Earth's rotation varies in speed. The length of a single rotation—also known as a day—is impacted by factors such as the movements of our planet's liquid core, variations in the jet stream and the gravitational pull of the moon. One 2024 study even suggested that melting polar ice has decreased Earth's angular velocity enough to slow rotations down. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. In fact, earth's days have generally been trending longer if you look back at the last few billion years. Research suggests that at various points in the time before our species evolved, days were minutes and even hours shorter. But we always get our shortest days in the summer, and there have been some especially short ones over the last few years. Scientists aren't totally sure why that's been happening, but they expect the spike to flatten back down soon, according to reporting by The Guardian. Speaking of the movement of celestial heavenly bodies: two meteor showers are set to peak on the same evening this week. In the overnight from July 29 to 30 both the Southern delta Aquariids and the alpha Capricornids will be reaching the height of their activity. While the alpha Caricornids aren't known for dropping loads of visible objects, they do sometimes produce bright fireballs—plus they can be seen from anywhere on the planet. Meanwhile, folks in the Southern Hemisphere will also get a great view of the Southern delta Aquariids, and people farther north could catch some activity if they look southward. There will also be some scattered meteors from the Perseids, which will ramp up in activity next month. With the moon in a waxing crescent phase, conditions should be good for spotting meteors—as long as it's not too cloudy. So set an alarm for the predawn hours on Wednesday and go outside to take a peek. Now let's head back down to Earth. Last Monday the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Urban Search and Rescue chief resigned. Ken Pagurek, who spent more than a decade with the FEMA branch and served as its chief for about a year, reportedly told colleagues that his decision was motivated in part by the delayed response to Texas's recent catastrophic flooding. The Department of Homeland Security recently implemented a policy that requires Secretary Kristi Noem to personally approve any spending over $100,000. CNN reports that Noem took more than 72 hours to provide authorization for Urban Search and Rescue teams to deploy in Texas. According to the New York Times, Noem also failed to renew agreements with call center companies whose contractors would have answered calls from disaster survivors. The contracts lapsed in the aftermath of the flood, when many people were still in need of help. The Times reported on July 5, FEMA received a bit more than 3,000 calls and answered about 99.7 percent of them. On July 6, with hundreds of the contractors responsible for answering phones suddenly fired, FEMA reportedly received 2,363 calls and answered about 35.8 percent of them. And according to the Times, those contracts weren't renewed until July 10. When asked for comment on Pagurek's resignation by ABC News, a DHS spokesperson doubled down on the new spending policy, defending the agency's decision not to 'hastily approve a six-figure deployment contract without basic financial oversight.' Let's pivot to some health news. According to a study of nearly 1,000 people published last Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, the COVID pandemic may have made our brains age more quickly—regardless of whether we got sick. First, the researchers analyzed imaging from more than 15,000 healthy individuals collected pre-pandemic to establish a baseline for normal brain aging. The team used this data to train machine-learning models to predict a person's brain age based on certain structural changes. The researchers then applied those models to brain scans from 996 other subjects, all of whom had received two brain scans at least a couple of years apart. About half of the participants had received both scans prior to the start of the pandemic, so they served as the control group. The scientists were then able to look at scans taken before and after the pandemic to assess the rate of brain aging. While only folks who got infected with COVID between their two scans showed a dip in some cognitive abilities, signs of brain aging, such as the shrinkage of gray matter, were accelerated across the board. The effects were most pronounced among men, older individuals and people from more socioeconomically deprived backgrounds. The study authors pointed to a number of aspects of the pandemic—including increases in stress, alcohol consumption and economic insecurity, along with decreases in physical activity and socialization—that they believe may have made our brains age more quickly. We don't yet know what the implications of these changes might be or whether they're reversible. Speaking of brains—and to end our show on a fun story because you know I love to do that—let's talk about ancient sea critters. A recent study focused on the extinct species Mollisonia symmetrica, which lived around half a billion years ago, suggests that the ancestors of spiders and other arachnids may have started out in the ocean. In studying fossilized remains of the tiny creature, scientists found that its brain was basically backwards—at least compared to other arthropods. The layout is more similar to the way modern arachnid noggins are arranged, which suggests that spider brains may have first evolved in the sea. That's all for this week's news roundup. We'll be back on Wednesday to talk about some of this summer's hottest topics in the world of weather. Science Quickly is produced by me, Rachel Feltman, along with Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper and Jeff DelViscio. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check our show. Our theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Subscribe to Scientific American for more up-to-date and in-depth science news.
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Science
- Sydney Morning Herald
Australia has front-row view as two meteor showers peak
It's showers with a chance of fireballs this week as two cosmic events converge to put on a dazzling double-act for those willing to seek out the dark, brave the cold and ditch their phones. 'We've got two meteor showers peaking at the same time,' Associate Professor Devika Kamath, an astrophysicist at Macquarie University, said. 'You see them really well from the southern hemisphere and Australia has a front-row view.' The Southern Delta Aquariids meteor shower will reach peak intensity from Monday to Wednesday amid its annual six-week appearance. The Aquariids are the third-strongest meteor shower of the year, with up to 20 meteors zipping past per hour at the peak. The Alpha Capricornids shower is also firing up to near-peak levels on Monday night and will reach its brightest on Wednesday. The Capricornids shower is weaker than the Aquariids, with about five meteors per hour, but it can send unpredictable and dramatic bursts of light scorching across the sky. 'You'll see two meteor showers which are quite different. The Delta Aquarius are kind of faint, fast streaks, while the other one, the Capricornids, are fewer, but they're sort of like slow-moving fireballs,' Kamath said. 'The showers peaking together will be quite spectacular. And of course, the moon's out of the way at the moment, so you have even darker skies.' How to see the showers
The Age
4 days ago
- Science
- The Age
Australia has front-row view as two meteor showers peak
It's showers with a chance of fireballs this week as two cosmic events converge to put on a dazzling double-act for those willing to seek out the dark, brave the cold and ditch their phones. 'We've got two meteor showers peaking at the same time,' Associate Professor Devika Kamath, an astrophysicist at Macquarie University, said. 'You see them really well from the southern hemisphere and Australia has a front-row view.' The Southern Delta Aquariids meteor shower will reach peak intensity from Monday to Wednesday amid its annual six-week appearance. The Aquariids are the third-strongest meteor shower of the year, with up to 20 meteors zipping past per hour at the peak. The Alpha Capricornids shower is also firing up to near-peak levels on Monday night and will reach its brightest on Wednesday. The Capricornids shower is weaker than the Aquariids, with about five meteors per hour, but it can send unpredictable and dramatic bursts of light scorching across the sky. 'You'll see two meteor showers which are quite different. The Delta Aquarius are kind of faint, fast streaks, while the other one, the Capricornids, are fewer, but they're sort of like slow-moving fireballs,' Kamath said. 'The showers peaking together will be quite spectacular. And of course, the moon's out of the way at the moment, so you have even darker skies.' How to see the showers
