IF YOU SEEK OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD ADVENTURE, YOU DON’T HAVE TO TRAVEL FAR. IN THE NEXT FOUR WEEKS, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO ENJOY A COMET, METEOR SHOWERS AND A GLIMPSE OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
If you’re feeling cooped up and looking for an out-of-this-world adventure, you may not have to travel far. In the next four weeks, you will be able to enjoy a comet, multiple meteor showers and a glimpse of the International Space Station.
Dominating headlines has been Neowise, a roughly fivekilometre-wide comet that has been gracing evening skies. The comet will make its closest pass to Earth on Wednesday, slipping past by just 64 million miles. For a time, Neowise will be closer to us than the sun is.
Neowise will continue zooming into outer space, fading from view into August as it vanishes for the last time in 6,000 years. Star gazers can catch it in the northwestern horizon in the evenings before then. Just follow the Big Dipper downward toward the horizon. Neowise will climb progressively higher in the sky each night.
Those deciding to try their luck at spotting the comet must be patient, and remember that what it looks like will differ from photographs. Travelling away from light pollution is key for the best viewing, as is having wideopen panoramic views. But if you are lucky, you will see the comet fanning a few degrees across the sky.
Those who do venture outdoors in pursuit of Neowise may also be fortunate enough to catch a Delta Aquarid meteor. These occur sporadically during the second half of July and much of August, but the main flurry of activity comes on the night of Wednesday, July 29. That’s when up to 20 shooting stars per hour may streak over clear, dark skies.
Meteor showers occur when the Earth bowls through a dense stream of debris left in the wake of a comet, asteroid, or other space-borne object.
Depending on where you look, you may encounter fewer meteors, however. Viewers in the Northern Hemisphere will see shooting stars emanate from the shower’s “radiant” point in the southern sky, meaning the best meteors with the longest tails will be most readily visible in the east and west.
A much more spectacular meteor shower ill pepper the skies with a spattering of bright shooting stars and “fireballs” come mid-august. The Perseid meteor shower peaks the night of Tuesday, Aug. 11. Dozens of shooting stars could be visible beneath a clear sky every hour.
Perseid meteors zip across the sky at 37 miles per second. Their diaphanous tails can appear white, orange, yellow, pink, turquoise and even violet, lingering in the sky for a few seconds.
In the meantime, you can also keep an eye out for the International Space Station, a scientific laboratory some 254 miles above the Earth’s surface. It will occasionally be visible as it cruises overhead at speeds of about five miles per second.