Alert! – Delta Aquarid Meteor Shower Peaking

The Delta Aquarid meteor shower is an annual shower that can be seen from July 14 until August 18. This year the peak will fall in the UK on the night of Tuesday the 28 July and the morning of Wednesday the 29 July. The Delta Aquarids are a small to medium shower, reaching a peak rate of around 20 meteors per hour.

The radiant point of the Delta Aquarids sits in the constellation of Aquarius , hence the name. If you were to trace the shooting stars back to their radiant point you may notice something quite interesting. The Delta Aquarids actually have two radiant points. The shower is actually a combination of two showers, the Northern and the Southern Delta Aquarids. The southern shower starts earlier and is a little more active, while the northern portion covers the end of the timescale and generally has a lower rate.