During this period, the moon reaches its last quarter phase on Saturday July 31st. At that time the moon lies 90 degrees west of the sun and rises near midnight local daylight saving time (on August 1st). As the week progresses the waning crescent moon rises later each morning, allowing a better view of the active morning sky as glare from the moon subsides.
During this period, the moon phase wanes from 100 percent illuminated down to nearly one-half illuminated. This weekend the moon lies opposite the sun and is above the horizon all night long. As the week progresses the waning gibbous moon rises later each night, allowing early evening observing under dark skies later next week.
The Perseids are often the most impressive Meteor Shower of the year for the Northern Hemisphere. The Perseid meteor shower offers a consistently high rate of meteors every year and it occurs in August when the temperatures are usually nice enough for a night under the stars!
During this period, the moon reaches its first quarter phase on Saturday July 17th. At this time the moon lies near 90 degrees east of the sun and sets near midnight local daylight saving time (LDST). As the week progresses the waxing gibbous moon enters the morning sky and will begin to interfere with morning meteor observing. By the end of the week the nearly full moon will be in the sky nearly all night long making meteor observing difficult at best.
This long fireball was captured by Han Wang at 14:41 UT (22:41 CST) on June 12, 2021, from Chengde, China. Han…
During this period, the moon reaches its new phase on Friday July 9th. At that time the moon is located near the sun and is invisible at night. This weekend a bright crescent moon will illuminate the morning sky. Successful meteor watches can still be held at this time as long as you keep the moon well out of your field of view. As the week progresses the moon becomes thinner and less of a problem until it disappears entirely into the morning twilight late in the period.
Scott Roberts captured this impressive fireball through clouds at 04:28 UT (22:23 MDT on May 27) on May 28, 2021,…
During this period, the moon reaches its full phase on Thursday June 24th. This weekend the waxing gibbous moon will set during the early morning hours allowing a few hours of viewing meteor activity under a dark sky between moon set and dawn. This window of opportunity shrinks with each passing night and by midweek the time of moon set and dawn will be simultaneous.
During this period, the moon reaches its first quarter phase on Friday June 18th. At that time the half-illuminated moon will set near 01:00 local daylight time (LDST), allowing the more active morning hours to be free of interfering moonlight.
David Young captured this nice flaring meteor at 11:39 UT (4:39 PDT) on April 29, 2021, from Fremont, California, USA.…
During this period, the moon reaches its last quarter phase on Wednesday June 2nd. On this date the moon is located 90 degrees west of the sun and rises near 02:00 local daylight saving time (LDST). This weekend the waning gibbous moon will rise during the early evening hours and will create difficult conditions for view meteor activity the remainder of the night.
During this period, the moon reaches its full phase on Wednesday May 26th. On this date the moon is located opposite the sun and remains above the horizon all night long. This weekend the waxing gibbous moon will set during the early morning hours, leaving a small opportunity to view in dark conditions between moon set and morning twilight.
During this period, the moon reaches its first quarter phase on Wednesday May 19th. On this date the half-illuminated moon is located 90 degrees east of the sun and sets near 2:00 local daylight saving time (LDST). This weekend the waxing crescent moon will set during the early evening hours and will not interfere with meteor observing.
Some of the images shown on this website may involve HDR technology and as such may not be compatible with either meteor magnitudes or meteor rates obtained by traditional visual or other standard photometric techniques.
American Meteor Society
