Summertime in the northern hemisphere brings a special kind of alignment. Not only are there several meteor showers to see - some happening at the same time - but the weather is such that staying outside in the late night is not just tolerable, but quite possibly pleasant.
The Southern Delta Aquariids (SDAs) will peak in the early hours of July 30th (the night of July 29th). From roughly midnight until dawn, an average of 15 meteors per hour can be expected from our vantage point here in the Northland. The Alpha Capricornids will be overlapping with the SDAs, and tend to offer fewer meteors, but with a higher concentration of fireballs. The Perseids will also be in view, so there's no shortage of meteors this summer.
For a brief moment in the coming days, the far reaches of our solar system might not seem so far. Pluto will be at its closest proximity to the Earth on July 24th. At a distance of 3.4 billion miles, Pluto is still well out of sight without a telescope - even when we're in alignment.
You can hear Astro Bob's Backyard Astronomy every other Tuesday at 8:20am on Northland Morning.
