Lying outside on a warm night and looking up at the sky for a meteor is one of the simplest pleasures of summer, and New Jersey residents will have several chances to see shooting stars this month.<\/p>\n
The highly anticipated Perseid meteor shower started Monday. It overlaps with two other lesser meteor showers, the Alpha Capricornids, which are also underway, and the Southern Delta Aquariids, which started Saturday.<\/p>\n
The long-running Perseids, which end Sept. 1, don\u2019t peak until Aug. 11-13. Peak activity for the other two meteor showers is expected between July 29-31.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re planning ahead, keep in mind that meteor showers are always best viewed from dark skies. Also, these showers all peak in the pre-dawn hours, so you may want to head away from city lights for an overnight camping trip to one of New Jersey\u2019s state parks.<\/p>\n
Some places to consider in New Jersey are:<\/p>\n
High Point State Park Island Beach State Park Bass River State Forest Jenny Jump State Forest Wawayanda State Park <\/p>\n
Give your eyes 30 minutes or so to adjust to the darkness, and then lie back on a chaise lounge or blanket to get the widest view of the sky.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what to you to know about the summer meteor showers:<\/p>\n
Southern Delta Aquariids<\/p>\n
The Southern Delta Aquariids<\/a>, which run through Aug. 21, peak on July 30-31. Under dark skies, seven or eight meteors should be visible, according to NASA. <\/p>\n A waxing crescent moon \u2014 that is, the phase after the new moon when the moon grows increasingly lighter \u2014 the peak could be problematic because the meteors are so faint. <\/p>\n Because shooting star shows are overlapping, you will know you\u2019ve spotted a Delta Aquariids meteor if it is coming from the direction of the constellation Aquarius in the southern part of the sky. The radiant point for the Perseids, on the other hand, is in the northern part of the sky.<\/p>\n Alpha Capricornids<\/p>\n The Alpha Capricornids<\/a> have a \u201cplateau-like\u201d maximum at the July 29-30 peak. It isn\u2019t a particularly strong shower and rarely produces more than five shooting stars at the peak, but what is notable is the number of bright fireballs produced during the peak. The shower runs through Aug. 12.<\/p>\n The moon will be about 27 percent full at the peak <\/p>\n The radiant point for the Alpha Capricornids meteor shower is the constellation Capricornus, which is located in the southern sky. To locate it, look for the \u201csummer triangle\u201d formed by the stars Vega, Altair and Deneb, and then look southwest.<\/p>\n Perseids<\/p>\n Those two meteor showers are an opening act for the Perseids<\/a>, swift, bright meteors famous for producing numerous fireballs and persistent trains. Under dark skies, about 100 shooting stars should be visible, according to NASA. <\/p>\n The Perseids result from Earth passing through debris \u2014 bits of ice and rock \u2014 left behind by comet 109\/P Swift-Tuttle<\/a> during its numerous returns to the inner solar system. They\u2019re so-named because the radiant point is the constellation of Perseus, found in the northern sky<\/p>\n The moon will be more than three-fourths full during the peak, which isn\u2019t ideal. But because they so frequently produce bright fireballs, skywatchers may not be disappointed.<\/p>\n