Meteor showers happen all year. They happen so often that they overlap for significant percentages of the year. There are two times when three meteor showers will be active in October, for example. But a rarer feat? Having two meteor showers that peak at the same time. It’ll happen later this month, on July 29. 

The show will come courtesy of the Alpha Capricornids and Southern delta Aquariids meteor showers. The former began on Saturday and runs through Aug. 12, with a peak of July 29. Southern delta Aquariids will start on July 28, peaks early on July 29, and then runs until Aug. 12 as well. That means for one evening, the two meteor showers are peaking at the same time, giving stargazers a much better chance at catching a shooting star. 

Of the two, the Southern delta Aquarids is typically the larger meteor shower, tossing upwards of 25 meteors per hour during its zenith. Alpha Capricornids is a lesser meteor shower, with about five per hour on average. Combined, they’ll output an estimated 30 per hour.

Tips to see two meteor showers at once

Since the meteors are coming from two different points in the sky, you would think spotting meteors from both would be difficult, but that is far from the truth. 

Alpha Capricornids, which hails from the 169P/NEAT comet, originates from the Capricornus constellation. It will rise from the eastern skies across the continental US around sunset and streak across the southern sky, setting in the western sky at sunrise. 

For the Southern delta Aquariids, its radiant — the point from which its meteors seem to originate — is the Aquarius constellation. Aquarius is right next to Capricornus. That means it also rises out of the eastern horizon, streaks across the southern sky, and sets in the western horizon around dawn. 

If you have trouble finding either of them, Stellarium’s free sky map will help you hunt them down. Set the time, date and location, and you’re off to the races. Once you find one, the other one is essentially right there next to it. 

Tips on spotting meteor showers

As per the norm, the tips here are the same as they are for the aurora borealis and planet parades. Light pollution and weather are your two biggest enemies. Since you can only do anything about one of those, let’s focus on light pollution. You’ll want to drive as far away from the city and suburbs as possible, as the light pollution will make it difficult to see the dimmer meteors. The further away you are, the better, as even suburban light pollution can obfuscate most meteors. 

Once out there, you just have to sit and wait. Since the constellations will move across the south as you watch, you may have to rotate your chair if you’re out there for a while. Otherwise, a pair of binoculars may help. Telescopes aren’t recommended, as they obscure your field of view and may actively obstruct your ability to see meteors. 

How soon will it be before Netflix subscribers begin to see movies and TV show that were made with generative AI technology? According to CEO Ted Sarandos, it’s already happened.

In a video conference call after Netflix’s earnings were announced on July 17, Sarandos took questions, one of which was focused on when and how the streaming company will generate content with artificial intelligence tools.

Surprisingly, Sarandos said the company already did it, on an Argentinian sci-fi show called El Eternauta, a graphic-novel adaptation known as The Eternaut in English-speaking markets. For a scene showing a building collapsing in Buenos Aires, Netflix’s tech team worked with the filmmakers to generate AI footage that was used as final footage.

Sarandos revealed that this was the first time that Netflix has used generative AI for final footage in any TV show or movie it has produced.

«We remain convinced that AI represents an incredible opportunity to help creators make films and series better, not just cheaper,» Sarandos said in the call. «Real people doing real work with better tools,» he added.

The Netflix chief said that the show’s budget would never have allowed footage like that to be created with traditional visual effects tools and workflows, and that it was produced 10 times faster than it would have been traditionally. «They were able to achieve an amazing result with remarkable speed,» Sarandos said.

Filmmakers, he said, are already using AI for previsualization and shot planning as well as visual effects such as de-aging. The company also plans to keep expanding its use of AI for keep improving recommendations and other features offered to subscribers.

El Eternauta has already been renewed for a second season and received positive reviews.