Keep an Eye Out for Two Stellar Meteor Showers Peaking This Week, the Southern Delta Aquariids and the Alpha Capricornids

A nearly full moon may obscure the fireballs falling from the remains of two comets that passed through Earth’s orbit

July 28, 2026 4:32 p.m.

view of the night sky with a shooting star close to the tree line — A meteor photographed on August 3, 2025. NASA Headquarters / NASA / Bill Ingalls, public domain via Wikimedia Commons

In two days, the sky will be showcasing a double stellar spectacle. The Alpha Capricornids and the Southern Delta Aquariids meteor showers are both set to peak on Thursday, July 30, though there might be some visibility issues given that this month’s full moon is on July 29. Still, it’s a great opportunity to get outside and adjust your eyes to the darkness rather than your phone’s artificial glow.

Meteor showers occur when Earth travels through a comet’s trail of debris and gets peppered with space rocks called meteoroids. Meteoroids are classified as “meteors” when they enter a planet’s atmosphere and “meteorites” if they reach the ground, which isn’t guaranteed. While traveling through the atmosphere, meteors burn up from the atmospheric drag, earning the widespread nickname “shooting stars.”

The Southern Delta Aquariids might be linked to Comet 96P/Machholz and the Alpha Capricornids are debris from Comet 169P/NEAT, Tim Konrad reports for the Farmers’ Almanac. Sporadic meteors aren’t linked to any known meteor shower, according to the American Meteor Society’s (AMS) fireball report coordinator Robert Lunsford.

You may have already caught sight of both meteor showers. The Southern Delta Aquariids occur from July 19 to August 13 and the Alpha Capricornids from July 7 to August 13, per the AMS.

"Besides originating from slightly different spots in the sky, what is known as the radiant of the meteor showers, the Delta Aquariids offer more frequent, faint streaks, while the Alpha Capricornids are famous for slower, dazzling fireballs," Alex Gianninas, an astronomer at Connecticut College, tells National Geographic’s Stefanie Waldek. Both the Southern Delta Aquariids and the Alpha Capricornids normally put on their best show in the Southern Hemisphere, according to CNN’s Gina Park.

This year the meteor showers will be competing against a very bright satellite, as July’s full moon—nicknamed the Buck moon—will have taken place the day before. A slightly waning moon on July 30 will still be round enough to likely wash out fainter objects in the sky.

Nevertheless, “one bright one is worth 20 faint ones” for skygazers, Don Pollacco, a researcher from the University of Warwick’s astronomy and astrophysics group, told the Associated Press’ Christina Larson on the occasion of the meteor showers in 2024. Last year, both showers peaked between July 29 and July 30.

As usual when it comes to stargazing, viewers should try to get away from light pollution and refrain from looking at bright lights—including their phones—to allow their eyes to adjust and enjoy the fiery manifestation of a double astronomical coincidence.

Did you know? What's next in the skies

The Perseids are already on the move but will be most visible in the sky on August 12-13, with no moon visible in the sky.
The Orionids will peak on October 21-22, with the moon at 80 percent fullness, according to the American Meteor Society.
The Southern Taurids will peak on November 4-5, when the moon is at 18 percent fullness.

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