Temecula Astronomers Track Meteor Showers And More: What To Know

TEMECULA, CA — Temecula Astronomers invited all out Friday to South Coast Winery for telescope views of the heavens and perhaps some shooting star sightings.

"TVA brings the scopes, you bring the awe and wonder," a spokesperson for the group said. "We've got a 7:51 p.m. sunset Friday, but an 82 percent moon at meridian at 9:19 p.m. The Summer Milky Way will be trailing the Moon, so there still will be some good sights to see, and maybe even an Aquarid or two."

The group will also track the International Space Station starting at around 9:10 p.m. as it drifts from north-northwest to east-northeast, they said.

The Southern Delta Aquariids were predicted to streak across the Riverside County night sky through the weekend, starting early July 29-31: This shower runs can produce about 20 meteors an hour at the peak. The moon will be approaching full during this shower, which is produced by debris left behind by the comets Marsden and Kracht.

Alpha Capricornids, July 30-31: Though this isn’t a particularly strong shower and rarely produces more than five shooting stars an hour, but what is notable is the number of bright fireballs produced during the peak. The moon will be about 95 percent full at the peak, so the show could be a washout.

Over the next few weeks, expect to see the Perseids, Aug. 12-13: Famous for producing a large number of fireballs, the Perseids meteor shower is regarded as one of the best of the year. Expect to see meteors through Sept. 1 and produces up to 100 shooting stars an hour at the peak. The shower, discovered in 1862, is produced by the comet 109/P Swift-Tuttle. Astronomers predict 2023 could be a good year to plan something around the peak; the moon will be about 10 percent full, so it shouldn’t interfere much with the sky show.

If you really want to learn more about what you're seeing out there, be sure and follow Temecula Valley Astronomers, who host regular star parties at South Coast Winery in Temecula.

Full Moons And Supermoons

Moon shadow chasers, 2023 is your year with four consecutive summer supermoons, two of them in the same month, a phenomenon known as a monthly blue moon.

If skies are clear, the moon should be exceptionally bright on and around the evenings of Aug. 1, Aug. 31 and Sept. 29.

The term supermoon didn’t come from astronomy. Rather, astrologer Richard Nolle coined the term in 1979, defining a supermoon as a new or full moon that occurs when it is at its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit, making it appear bigger and brighter.

“Interestingly, nobody paid much attention to Nolle's definition until March 19, 2011, when the full moon arrived at an exceptionally close perigee, coming within 126 miles (203 kilometers) of its closest possible approach to Earth,” Joe Rao wrote for Space.com.

Until Nolle “branded” the supermoon, astronomers called the full moon that coincided with perigee as a “perigean full moon,” and it passed without notice.

“Now,” Rao continued, “it seems that every time a full moon coincides with perigee, it is referred to as a supermoon.”

Early indigenous populations named the moons to track the seasons. Below are all the full moons of 2023, including supermoons, and the names given to them by Native Americans:

Aug. 1: Sturgeon moon (supermoon)

Aug. 31: Blue moon (supermoon)

Sept. 29: Harvest moon (supermoon)

You May Also Like:

• Aurora Borealis Displays More Likely In Active Solar Storm Season
• Aurora Borealis Hunting: What’s A Kp Index, More Northern Lights Tips

Be sure to follow Temecula Valley Astronomers, and let us know if you're going to their next Star Party at South Coast Winery.