Southern Delta Aquariid Meteor Shower 2023

The Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower originates from Comet 96P/Machholz. The comet was discovered in 1986. Comet 96P/Machholz is a short-period sungrazing comet with a period of 5.27 years. It was discovered on May 12, 1986, by the amateur astronomer Donald Machholz.

As this comet travels close to the Sun, it leaves behind a trail of debris: small meteoroids spread out in space that cross Earth’s orbit. As Earth moves around the Sun, it passes through this stream of debris at certain times each year. When these particles enter Earth’s atmosphere at very high speed, they heat up through friction with the air and burn, creating the streaks of light we call meteors.

The Southern Delta Aquariids are active from July 12 – August 23, 2023, peaking on the night of July 30 and the morning of July 31 with up to 25 meteors per hour under ideal conditions.

This meteor shower is best observed if you are patient and watch from after midnight until just before dawn, from a dark location far from city lights. You don’t need special equipment such as a telescope or binoculars, just your naked eyes and good weather! The radiant of this meteor shower is in the constellation Aquarius, but meteors can appear anywhere in the sky.