Two meteor showers are set to light up New Zealand skies tonight as Earth passes by a cloud of comet debris.
Astrophysicist Nick Rattenbury told Breakfast this morning that it isn’t an unusual event, but having two meteor showers at once increases your chances of spotting something special.
“Look towards the northeast in the early parts of the night, look towards the north around midnight, then more or less towards the northwest in the early hours of the morning.”
The showers – from the Southern Delta Aquariid and the Alpha Capricornids – are set to peak tonight and will continue into tomorrow evening.
They’re a result of comets going around the sun, ejecting off bits of debris.
During this time of the year, as Earth passes through the debris cloud, bits fall into Earth’s atmosphere, allowing us to see shooting stars.
Rattenbury said the most important tip for trying to catch a glimpse is to make sure your eyes are dark adjusted.
“This is nothing more than just spending time outside in the dark and allowing your eyes to adjust.”
He said one of the most common mistakes is people not giving it enough time and they keep looking at their phone.
“It takes somewhere between 20 to 30 minutes, and some people will say even more than that, a couple of hours, to get your eyes really well-adapted.”
If you want to try taking a picture of it on your phone you can, but he suggests preparing your phone before you go outside so you don’t have to look at a bright screen.
Despite there being two showers at once, it’s important to have reasonable expectations.
“If you go out there thinking it will be like a Hollywood blockbuster film with all these catastrophic lights in the sky, you’re likely to be disappointed.”
Rattenbury’s advice to star gazers is to wrap up warm, relax and find a nice spot away from the city lights to watch the sky as if you do spot one, they are “spectacular when they occur”.
By Breakfast’s Nikki Smith