A rare astronomical event is set to grace UK skies as Brits have been told to avoid light pollution to spot the spectacle. A double meteor shower will be visible from Britain in the coming days as stargazers are told the exact date to spot the light. Two showers, the Southern Delta Aquariid and the Alpha Capricornid, will be visible until August 12, yet will peak simultaneously in the early morning on July 30.
On Wednesday morning, while it’s still dark, British stargazers can catch a glimpse of “flashes of light in the night sky”. A quarter-full waxing moon means light pollution is at its lowest, yet for the best view, experts recommend moving as far from bright city lights as possible.
Each shower is expected to produce up to a dozen visible meteors per hour, according to Thaddeus LaCoursiere, the planetarium programme coordinator at the Bell Museum in St Paul, Minnesota.
“Look for flashes of light in the night sky,” he said, adding that both are “very nice meteor showers”.
Delta Aquariids is debris from comet 96P/Machholz and the Alpha Capricornids come from the comet 169P/NEAT. The Alpha Capricornids is produced by slower-moving meteors, meaning its tails may linger slightly longer in the sky.
A shooting star is formed due to the debris encountering new resistance, making it become very hot, resulting in it burning up. The air surrounding it will glow briefly, leaving behind a visible fiery tail.
The best time to spot an astronomical event, such as a meteor shower, is in the early predawn hours when the moon is lower in the sky.
Competing light sources may affect visibility, therefore it is advised to leave a city if you want to catch a glimpse.
Experts also recommend to keep looking up, not down, as your eyes will be better adapted to spot shooting stars if you aren’t checking your phone.
Following on from the double shower, the next major meteor event, the Perseids, peaks in mid August.