This year the Moon will be absent from the sky, as it approaches the new phase on the afternoon of 28 July.<\/p>\n
This leaves the sky dark for Southern Delta meteors. Well, when we say dark, we mean as dark as it ever gets at the end of July!<\/p>\n
Find out more about the science of meteor showers in our guide What causes a meteor shower?<\/a> And for regular observing advice delivered directly to your email inbox, sign up to receive the BBC Sky at Night Magazine e-newsletter<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n For those in the north of the UK, the sky still carries its characteristic deep blue colour, never reaching proper astronomical darkness at all.<\/p>\n Even from the far south of the UK, proper darkness is rather brief.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t let this detract you from enjoying <\/span>the shower though, as bright trails will make themselves known.<\/p>\n The Southern Delta Aquariids (SDA) shower is active between 12 July and 23 August, reaching peak activity at the end of July, on the nights of 28\/29, 29\/30 and 30\/31 July.<\/p>\n It\u2019s well worth observing across all three dates if you can.<\/p>\n Peak rates typically reach a zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) of 16 meteors per hour but, as we often say, ZHRs can be misleading.<\/p>\n The zenithal hourly rate represents the number of meteors expected to be seen per hour under perfect viewing conditions with the shower radiant <\/span>\u2013 the region of sky from where the shower meteors emanate \u2013 directly above your head.<\/p>\n Such conditions are rarely met and this is the case with the SDA, its radiant sited near Skat (Delta (\u03b3<\/span>) Aquarii), which doesn\u2019t get very high from the UK.<\/p>\n To observe the Southern Delta Aquariid shower, find somewhere dark and sit or lie back, looking up at the sky; an altitude of 60\u02da (two-thirds up from the horizon) is ideal, in any direction.<\/p>\n As the nights are short in July, an all-night watch still allows you to get some sleep after the session.<\/p>\n Fancy photographing the Southern Delta Aquariids? Read our guides on how to photograph a meteor shower<\/a> and the best equipment for photographing meteors<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n This guide originally appeared in the July 2022 issue of BBC Sky at Night Magazine<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Pete Lawrence Published: Wednesday, 29 June 2022 at 12:00 am The Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower peaks on 28\u201329 July 2022 and the best time to see it will be 28\u201331 July, midnight BST (23:00 UT) through to 03:00 BST (02:00 UT). This year the Moon will be absent from the sky, as it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":33467,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/06\/see-the-southern-delta-aquariid-meteor-shower-at-the-end-of-july.jpg",1200,864,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/06\/see-the-southern-delta-aquariid-meteor-shower-at-the-end-of-july-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/06\/see-the-southern-delta-aquariid-meteor-shower-at-the-end-of-july-300x216.jpg",300,216,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/06\/see-the-southern-delta-aquariid-meteor-shower-at-the-end-of-july-768x553.jpg",768,553,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/06\/see-the-southern-delta-aquariid-meteor-shower-at-the-end-of-july-1024x737.jpg",800,576,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/06\/see-the-southern-delta-aquariid-meteor-shower-at-the-end-of-july.jpg",1200,864,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2022\/06\/see-the-southern-delta-aquariid-meteor-shower-at-the-end-of-july.jpg",1200,864,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Pete Lawrence Published: Wednesday, 29 June 2022 at 12:00 am The Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower peaks on 28\u201329 July 2022 and the best time to see it will be 28\u201331 July, midnight BST (23:00 UT) through to 03:00 BST (02:00 UT). This year the Moon will be absent from the sky, as it…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/33466"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2022\/06\/southern-delta-aquariid-meteor-2022-0dd7b3e.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C446"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>How to observe the Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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