Fireball over the Northeast last night
Fireball over the Northeast last night:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">An incredibly bright <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/meteor?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#meteor</a> streaked over New England on July 24th. Did you see the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/fireball?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#fireball</a>? <a href="https://t.co/wmLRxjj5MH">https://t.co/wmLRxjj5MH</a> <a href="https://t.co/Bm2bDo0dmD">pic.twitter.com/Bm2bDo0dmD</a></p>— AccuWeatherAstronomy (@AccuAstronomy) <a href="https://twitter.com/AccuAstronomy/status/1154411234416103425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2019</a></blockquote> https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
A fireball was sighted over New England last night. The American Meteorological Society received several dozen reports from New Jersey to Vermont. It is possible this is a Perseid meteor. But, there are two other active meteor showers that peak soon.
These are not major meteor showers, but produce several meteors per hour. The delta Aquariids are the more active of the two. But, the American Meteor Society's meteor shower calendar notes that the alpha Capricornids are known for producing bright fireballs.
Both of these meteor shower features meteors that radiate from the southern part of the sky. Perseid meteors come from the north. The AMS shows that the fireball traveled from Southeast to Northwest so it likely belonged to one of these two showers.
As these showers near their peak at the end of the month, but moon will become less and less of a factor with the new moon occurring on July 31. Then, the Perseids meteor shower is right around the corner.
It is technically already active. The peak of this shower is something to behold. The sky lights up with bright meteors on the peak night. This shower produces year in and year out. Since it occurs during the warm summer months, it is the most popular meteor shower in the Northern Hemisphere.
2018 Perseid meteor I shot in my backyard.
We will have much more on the Perseid meteor shower in the coming weeks. The peak night is Monday, August 12 into Tuesday, August 13. Thanks for reading. Just look up; you never know what you will see!
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