It will be a classic case of quality over quantity when it comes to the meteor shower over Michigan this week.
The Alpha Capricornids meteor shower starts to become visible in mid-July and runs through early August. If you're wondering why you've never heard of this meteor shower, don't worry, you're not alone. This is not one of the more popular meteor showers due to the low number of meteors per hour.
What makes the Alpha Capricornid Meteor Shower different?
The Alpha's are one of the lesser known meteor showers that happen annually because they don't produce a ton of meteors per hour. The reason they are special is because the meteors that you do see are longer and brighter than most meteor showers. They can project a blue long lasting streak, or even an explosion like the video below.
The reason these meteors last a little longer is because they are moving slower than normal meteor showers.
What is the best way to see the Alpha Capricornid meteor shower?
First things first, any meteor shower gets better the further away from light pollution that you can get. So before you make any viewing plans, you should really think about the darkest spot you could go to. Once you've worked out where you're going to watch the meteor shower from, you'll need to know where to look.
The peak of the meteor shower is happening starting tonight, Wednesday July 28th, and going through the weekend. You'll be able to see 5-10 meteors per hour during different stages of the night.
The best way to view them is to look toward the southeast before midnight, moving more toward the south after midnight into the early morning hours.
The moon will still be fairly bright, so you may miss some of the dimmer meteors, but the brightest ones will still give you a good show.
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