July 29

July 29

The Southern Delta Aquariids Peak

Sun Position

The Sun is in Leo at about +18.1° declination. Northern Hemisphere summer days are noticeably shorter than at solstice; Southern Hemisphere observers experience the year's longest nights.

Sky Highlight

The Southern Delta Aquariids reach their annual peak around July 28–30. The radiant is near the star Skat (δ Aquarii) and rises in the southeastern sky after midnight. Southern Hemisphere observers can expect 15–25 meteors per hour under good conditions; northern observers at mid-latitudes see the radiant low and rates fall to perhaps 5–10 per hour. The shower runs from late July into mid-August.

Deep Sky Object

NGC 7293, the Helix Nebula, a planetary nebula in Aquarius roughly 655 light-years away. It is the nearest large planetary nebula to Earth and the largest in apparent diameter, spanning roughly half a degree, wider than the full Moon, though its surface brightness is low enough that dark skies are needed to detect it visually. Best from mid-southern latitudes where Aquarius rides higher.

Featured Star

Altair (α Aql) is 16.73 light-years away in Aquila, classified A7V. It is the twelfth brightest star in the night sky and forms the southern vertex of the Summer Triangle (or Winter Triangle for Southern Hemisphere observers). No telescope is needed to notice it: it sits flanked by two fainter stars (Alshain and Tarazed) forming a distinctive row.

Around This Date

  • July 29, 1958President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act into law, creating NASA and officially committing the United States to a civilian-led space exploration program.
  • July 29, 2005Planetary scientists announced the discovery of 2003 UB313 (later named Eris) initially described as the tenth planet; its classification as a dwarf planet two years later directly prompted the IAU redefinition that also reclassified Pluto.

The Delta Aquariids peak quietly, no fireball storms, just a steady low rain of meteors from a point in the sky that matters most if you're south of the equator.