A Blue Moon and Meteors Compete for Attention This Week
A meteor shower is reaching the height of its activity this week, but a blue moon will wash out some of the shooting stars.
The annual Delta Aquarids meteor shower is at its peak. The night of July 30 into the pre-dawn hours on July 31 will be a great time to watch for shooting stars, and the Aquarids are something of a pre-game show to the iconic and much bigger Perseid meteor shower that will arrive in mid-August.
But another celestial phenomenon may make catching the show a bit tough. On Friday, July 31 the second full moon of the month will rise into Earth’s skies—the first was July 2. The near-full moon at the time of the meteor shower’s peak will make viewing challenging as the fainter shooting stars will be washed out by the lunar glare.
The second full moon in a
