Technologies

Look Up at Night and You May See Two Meteor Showers in July

The Alpha Capricornids and Southern delta Aquariids start at different times but peak on the same day this month.

Meteor showers happen periodically all year. In fact, 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 is having two meteor showers that have their activity peak at the same time. The next time that’s happening is on July 29.

The show will come courtesy of the Alpha Capricornids and Southern delta Aquariids meteor showers. The former begins on July 12 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.

How to see the meteor showers

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 shooting stars

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 it obscures your field of view and may actively obstruct your ability to see meteors.

Technologies

Quadrantids Is a Short but Sweet Meteor Shower Just After New Year’s. How to See It

This meteor shower has one of the most active peaks, but it doesn’t last for very long.

The Quadrantids has the potential to be one of the most active meteor showers of the year, and skygazers won’t have long to wait to see it. The annual shower is predicted to reach maximum intensity on Jan. 3. And with a display that can rival Perseids, Quadrantids could be worth braving the cold to see it.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

The show officially begins on Dec. 28 and lasts until Jan. 12, according to the American Meteor Society. Quadrantids is scheduled to peak on Jan. 2-3, when it may produce upwards of 125 meteors per hour. This matches Perseids and other larger meteor showers on a per-hour rate, but Quadrantids also has one of the shortest peaks at just 6 hours, so it rarely produces as many meteors overall as the other big ones.

The meteor shower comes to Earth courtesy of the 2003 EH1 asteroid, which is notable because most meteor showers are fed from comets, not asteroids. Per NASA, 2003 EH1 is a near-Earth asteroid that orbits the sun once every five and a half years. Science posits that 2003 EH1 was a comet in a past life, but too many trips around the sun stripped it of its ice, leaving only its rocky core. The Earth runs through EH1’s orbital debris every January, which results in the Quadrantids meteor shower.

How and where to see Quadrantids

Quadrantids is named for the constellation where its meteors appear to originate, a point known as the radiant. This presents another oddity, as the shower originates from the constellation Quadrans Muralis. This constellation ceased to be recognized as an official constellation in the 1920s and isn’t available on most publicly accessible sky maps.

For the modern skygazer, you’ll instead need to find the Bootes and Draco constellations, both of which contain stars that were once a part of the Quadrans Muralis. Draco will be easier to find after sunset on the evening of Jan. 2, and will be just above the horizon in the northern sky. Bootes orbits around Draco, but will remain under the horizon until just after 1 a.m. local time in the northeastern sky. From that point forward, both will sit in the northeastern part of the sky until sunrise. You’ll want to point your chair in that direction and stay there to see meteors.

As the American Meteor Society notes, Quadrantids has a short but active peak, lasting around 6 hours. The peak is expected to start around 4 p.m. ET and last well into the evening. NASA predicts the meteor shower to start one day later on Jan. 3-4, so if you don’t see any on the evening of Jan. 2, try again on Jan. 3.

To get the best results, the standard space viewing tips apply. You’ll want to get as far away from the city and suburbs as possible to reduce light pollution. Since it’ll be so cold outside, dress warmly and abstain from alcoholic beverages, as they can affect your body temperature. You won’t need any binoculars or telescopes, and the reduced field of view may actually impact your ability to see meteors.

The bad news is that either way, the Quadrantids meteor shower coincides almost perfectly with January’s Wolf Moon, which also happens to be a supermoon. This will introduce quite a lot of light pollution, which will likely drown out all but the brightest meteors. So, while it may have a peak of over 100 meteors per hour, both NASA and the AMS agree that the more realistic expectation is 10 or so bright meteors per hour.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Dec. 24, #1649

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Dec. 24, No. 1,649.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a little tricky, with a double letter that could confuse players. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has one repeated letter.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has one vowel, but it’s the repeated letter, so you’ll see it twice.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with S.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with L.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to a cylindrical device upon which thread is wound.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is SPOOL.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Dec. 23, No. 1648 was GLINT.

Recent Wordle answers

Dec. 19, No. 1644: MYRRH

Dec. 20, No. 1645: WHITE

Dec. 21, No. 1646: QUILT

Dec. 22, No. 1647: CONCH

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Dec. 24, #457

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Dec. 24, No. 457.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a bit of a toughie, with a lot of proper nouns included. If you’re struggling but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: What separates two entities.

Green group hint: Head to the mountains.

Blue group hint: Mitt makers.

Purple group hint: Kick it.