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The Delta Aquariid meteor shower has been going on all month, but on Thursday, July 29, it will peak and light up the sky.
According to CNN, "As Earth orbits the sun, it encounters the lopsided orbit of a comet, the icy surface of which leaves behind dust and rocks as they boil off from the sun's heat. When these space rocks fall toward our atmosphere, "the resistance -- or drag -- of the air on the rock makes it extremely hot," according to NASA. 'What we see is a 'shooting star.' That bright streak is not actually the rock, but rather the glowing hot air as the hot rock zips through the atmosphere. When Earth encounters many meteors at once, we call it a meteor shower.'"
The peak is technically between midnight and dawn on Wednesday and Thursday, however, EarthSky.org says to not pay too much attention to those dates; the meteor shower typically produces meteors for days after.
So how can you catch the show in San Diego?
According to Patch, you should:
- Get as far away from city lights as possible.
- Give your eyes about 30-45 minutes to adjust to the darkness
- Take in as much of the sky as possible; bring a reclining lawn chair or a blanket and lie flat on your back
The lead of the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA also says "It can be helpful to find the radiant point (for the Delta Aquariids, it's the constellation Aquarius the Water Bearer; for the Perseids, that's the prominent constellation of Perseus). But avoid staring directly at it. The longer streaks are visible farther away from the radiant point."