Let me know if you see any meteors. The July Showers won’t be that spectacular, but they’re worth a look. Remember after midnight in the morning of July 28th.

In the upper right hand corner there is a section called “Meteor Shower Viewing” which has a lot of information that applies to everyone.

A first quarter moon, a radiant that is visible low on the horizon, and a weak meteoroid stream makes the South. δ-Aquariids Meteor Shower one of the year’s least breathtaking events. I wish I could tell you that it will be spectacular, but based on the trends from prior years it has shown the propensity to be fairly weak.

Meteor showers remain one of the most unpredictable events for scientists, but one can usually see the most meteors in a shower between midnight and dawn. For the South. δ-Aquariids this would be the morning of July 28.

The Perseids of August are the shower you should be most concerned with. In the meantime, keep your head up!

- Meteor Mark not Mike.

Thanks for your July schedule. I was just wondering which one night you would recommend seeing the showers on; which night would we best see the highest intensity showers? And also, what time would be best for that particular shower viewing from LA?

Thanks

That is the best of July, but in August there is the Perseids meteor shower which will be much stronger!

Check back next week, I will help you with the best time and direction to look for the July meteor shower and I will also be starting an August thread too.

- Meteor Mark

I was hoping for a more spectacular meteor shower, neither one of us has ever seen one. Is that the best shower for that week?

I’ll check back for the full July schedule

Thanks again

I will be putting the July schedule up very soon. The shower you may be referring to is the South, δ-Aquarids that will peak in the morning of Tuesday July 28th. It may produce moderate results of up to twenty meteors per hour. There will be more meteors in the sky than usually, but I doubt it will be impressive.

Go to the upper right hand corner of this site and check out: “Meteor Shower Viewing” there is a lot of information there. Telescopes will hinder you ability to see meteors.

Please check back with me next week and I will have all the information ready for you to read, okay?

- Meteor Mark

I am going to visit my girlfriend in Pasadena, CA on the week of July 22-29th and I heard that there is expected to be a fairly impressive meteor shower at some point during that week. I was wondering if you could tell me what date looks best to see the meteor shower from SoCal and also what time we should plan on looking towards the heavens. And finally, will we be able to get a good view of the meteors without telescopes?

Many thanks,

Akshay

You can always give it a shot, but there probably won’t be much happening.

I will be putting the July schedule up in a week or so, you can bookmark the site and check back with me. If you do go out tonight and see some, let me know.

- Meteor Mark

No, I don’t think it would be worth it to go out of town to see June meteors. Check with me next month and the month after for some really great meteor news at that time it will be worth the effort to go out looking.

- Meteor Mark

I live in Cape Town.

I saw a meteor so bright I sent an E-mail to the paper. An article went into the Star-Telegram paper. Here is the article.

Posted on Mon, Jun. 22, 2009
Nighttime fireball lights up D-FW
While most of the Metroplex was asleep early Monday, a fireball shot across the sky, startling those who had not yet given up on the weekend.
“It was huge,” said Austin Babek, 18, who observed the light show from outside his south Arlington home. “It actually scared me, it was so big.”
Babek said he and a friend saw the fireball at 12:56 a.m. He said it lasted about five seconds and was bright orange with a long blue and green tail.
“I’ve seen shooting stars before but never anything like this,” he said.
In an e-mail to the Star-Telegram, Lynda Edwards of Fort Worth described it as “so bright I could see it through the branches and leaves of my large pecan tree. It emerged on the other side of the tree and burnt out in the northwest sky.”
Ron Dilulio, planetarium and astronomy lab director at the University of North Texas, did not see the light — he is out of town on a field trip — but said later Monday that based on descriptions, it was “more than likely a meteor.”
— Lee Williams

Here is the E-mail I sent to the paper:
June 21, 2009

Tonight I was sitting on my patio in central Fort Worth watching the sky as I so often do when I take my dogs out for the last time in the evening. Wow! I saw the most amazing falling star. It appeared in the sky from the south just before 1 am. It had such a long bright white tail. I got up from my chair and followed it. It was so bright I could see it through the branches and leaves of my large pecan tree. It emerged on the other side of the tree and burnt out in the northwest sky.

I have been skygazing for more than 40 years. When I was a little girl I used to sit outside by myself watching the night sky in my kid sized lawn chair in my front yard in the city. I’ve seen quite a few falling stars but never one so low with such a long tail. It was closer than any shooting star I have ever seen.

I laughed out loud a little because I had just finished my first viewing of the movie The Day The Earth Stood Still. Maybe it was an omen of things to come or just a reminder that I need to reduce my carbon footprint. Perhaps it was just a star to make an extra birthday wish on for my daughter turning 12 on this summer solstice day.

June 21, before 11 pm

Later that same day we went camping in Brownwood, about 2 1/2 hours west of Fort Worth. We were on a farm far away from city lights. My kids and I saw six falling stars in the east between 10 and 11 pm. I thought I saw more but I wasn’t quite sure.

I saw a memory making meteor show on June 21, 2009

You may have read on this site that the June Bootids is occurring now until July. It peaks Saturday morning. Fireballs like you witnessed are somewhat rare and usually go unreported. Millions of particles bombard our world everyday. I can’t tell you exactly what you saw because I wasn’t there.

Have a look at the glossary in the upper right hand corner. There are some more descriptions and definitions there. You may also want to use the search feature on this site to find out more about “sporadic meteors” and “fireballs”.

I heard of a recent “bolide” sighting over Sierra Vista, AZ this may have been the same event. “Bolides” are bright fireballs that break apart and are usually accompanied by a “pop-like” flash at the end of their flight.

Thank you for the comment and let me know if you have any other questions.

- Meteor Mark