The second Full Moon of July 2015 arrives on July 31 at 10:43 Universal Time. No doubt the headline writers of the interwebs will be all over this bit of non-news, but as most readers of Cosmic Pursuits understand, a Blue Moon is simply the second Full Moon of a calendar month. Or in another definition, which does not apply here, a Blue Moon is the third full Moon of a season in which there are four Full Moons. In either case, there’s no astronomical significance to the event, and the Moon will not have a blue tinge. Though any Full Moon in summer makes for a pleasant evening walk when you can smell the thick air and scent of summer flowers in this all-too-brief season [Read more…] about Once in a Blue Moon
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The Delta Aquarid meteor shower peaks this year around July 28. This annual event favors observers in the southern hemisphere and southerly latitudes in the northern hemisphere, though all observers can see some of these slow-moving meteors. The meteors of the Delta Aquariids appear to radiate from a point near the star Skat (δ Aquarii) in the constellation Aquarius. The shower peaks around July 27-30, but unlike most meteor showers, the Delta Aquarids lack a sharp peak so meteors are visible from mid-July through early August. The maximum hourly rate can reach 15-20 meteors in a dark sky. Because of their angle of entry into the atmosphere, the Delta Aquariids tend to leave long lingering trails which sets them apart from most other meteors.
