Perseids, Delta Aquarids: How To See Summer Meteor Showers In Queens

QUEENS, NY — The yearly Perseids and Delta Aquarids meteor showers have begun and are headed toward mid-August peaks. Here's what's behind the beautiful night skies and your best hope at catching a glimpse of them amid a light-polluted New York City skyline.

The always anticipated Perseids meteor shower began July 17 as Earth passed through the path of the Comet Swift-Tuttle, but the shower known for its blazing bright meteors won’t peak until Aug. 12. If your eyes feast on any meteors before then, they could be part of the Delta Aquarids meteor shower, which started last week, and continues through Aug. 13.

Finding a place to see the star show in Queens is tricky, but local star-gazers have some reliable spots that they turn to year-round:

• The Amateur Astronomers Association of New York hosts regular observing events, and on Aug. 4, the group will be at Hunters Point South Park in Long Island City, located along the East River. The location offers unobstructed views of the sky in nearly all directions. The group will set up telescopes west of the oval at the far west end of Borden Avenue. You can view the group's complete observing schedule and learn more here.
• Douglaston's Alley Pond Environmental Center is hosting a Star-Gazing Wonders astronomy night, an adult workshop on Aug. 12, where participants will be able to bring their own telescopes and binoculars or use one of the center’s professional telescopes. Children ages 9 and older are welcome to register as long as they are accompanied by a participating adult. The event will be held 8 to 10 p.m., $10 for members and $16 for nonmembers.
• Rockaway Beach offers clear views of the sky, with weather reporting indicating the most ideal days to visit the beach for stargazing opportunities will be Aug. 1-3 and Aug. 6-8.

Keep an eye on the weather, though, as current predictions show that Aug. 12 might have cloudy skies and some rain, making even Queens' best viewing spots unusable for the meteor show. While it's still two weeks out, the National Weather Service is currently predicting a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms for the night of Aug. 12. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke advises stargazers to allow about 30 minutes for their eyes to adjust to the dark and then settle in for a few hours during the Perseids meteor shower peak. Those who are patient will be rewarded, he said, noting that at a rate of 150 meteors per hour, stargazers should see about two or three a minutes — some faint trails of light, others generating fireballs.

The earlier show produces about 20 meteors an hour at its peak and is regarded as an average meteor shower. A crescent moon will have set by the time they tune up, leaving skies dark for the late-night and early-morning Delta Aquarids meteor shower, according to seasky.org.

The Perseids meteor shower, the main act, is good for up to 150 meteors an hour, according to space.com. This year, a waning gibbous moon — one that appears less than half full but is more than half-lighted — could block out some of the fainter meteors, but the Perseids are so bright that you should still plan on catching the show. The meteors radiate from the constellation Perseus, but you’ll be able to see them no matter where you’re looking in the sky.

The Perseids’ Aug. 12 peak comes when Earth passes through the densest, dustiest area of the wide path of Comet Swift-Tuttle — about 16 miles wide at its nucleus, according to space.com. The last time it passed near Earth was during its orbit of the sun in 1992, something that won’t happen again until 2126. The comet itself is a rare occurrence, but the annual meteor shower is a brilliant reminder of it.

Meteors are pieces of comet debris that heat up as they enter the atmosphere then burn in a bright burst of light that streaks across the sky at up to 37 miles per second, according to space.com. Most of the Perseids meteors are so small — they’re about the size of a grain of sand — that they’ll never become “meteorites” that fall to the Earth.

— Story by Patch Editor Beth Dalbey

Photo credit: Jared Tennant