Astronomy fans are going to enjoy a month of July full of events. Specifically, the appearance of several meteor showers is expected, which are associated with the debris that comets cross the Earth’s orbit that they leave in their successive passes near the Sun. Their duration is usually a fraction of a second, but the vaporization of the particle by its collision with the air molecules produces a luminosity that makes this phenomenon observable.
The most important of all will be the Delta-Aquarids meteor shower, which can be seen every year between July 12 and August 23, reaching its maximum around July 30. As detailed from the National Geographic Institute, these meteors are best observed in the southern hemisphere because their radiant is higher in the sky, but they are also visible in the northern hemisphere with a somewhat lower activity rate. The maximum of the rain of the delta acuáridas is expected for the night of July 30 to 31, although this 2023 will be a bad year for its observation since its moment of maximum activity will occur two days before the full moon on the 1st of August.
This July it will also be possible to observe the Afa-Capricornids, a phenomenon that gets its name from its proximity to the alpha star of the constellation Capricorn. They originate from the dust trail left by comet 196P/NEAT and occur between July 3 and August 15. Its maximum trace is scheduled for July 30, the date on which about four meteors per hour can be seen with good visibility. This is a much less active meteor shower, but brighter than the previous one.
The last astronomical event scheduled for these dates is the Pisces-Austrinids, a rain that receives its name from the proximity of the constellation of the Austral Fish. First seen by WF Denning in 1911, it can be viewed between July 15 and August 10. Its maximum is scheduled for July 28, when about five meteors per hour can be seen with good visibility.
This month of July the first Perseids or tears of San Lorenzo will also begin to be seen. Although their moment of maximum activity takes place on the nights of August 11 to 13, they usually begin to be seen around July 17 and end around August 24. This year is expected to be an excellent year to observe them, since their maximum will occur three days before the new moon (the new moon will take place on August 16).
