Southern Delta Aquariids meteor shower 2026 and 2027

What the Southern Delta Aquariids are

This shower takes its name from Delta Aquarii, the third-brightest star in Aquarius, near the radiant. The radiant is the spot in the sky the meteors appear to fly out of. NASA notes that the star’s name helps tell this shower apart from the Eta Aquariids of May. The International Meteor Organization (IMO) calls it one of the most active annual showers in the Southern Hemisphere.

Its parent body is not settled. NASA says the suspected source is comet 96P/Machholz, a short-period comet that orbits the Sun about every five years. The International Astronomical Union’s Meteor Data Center instead lists comet 342P/SOHO.

What they look like

The meteors arrive at a moderate speed, slower than the Perseids that are active at the same time. Sources describe their brightness differently. NASA calls them faint and hard to spot, especially with the Moon up. IMO reports numerous bright meteors around the maximum, with a higher share of faint ones away from the peak. In practice, expect a mix, and a dark sky makes the biggest difference.

How to watch from the US

The radiant lies well south of the celestial equator. From the northern US it climbs only partway up the southern sky, so many of the shower’s meteors stay below the horizon. IMO notes that at mid-northern latitudes only a small portion of the shower is visible and that conditions improve steadily farther south. Florida, the Gulf Coast, south Texas, southern Arizona, Hawaii and Puerto Rico have the advantage.

The radiant rises in the late evening, and the American Meteor Society gives about 3 a.m. local time as the best hour, which is why our best hours for each city fall after midnight. NASA suggests looking about halfway up the sky and roughly 45 degrees away from Aquarius, so you catch meteors with longer trails. Facing south or southeast works well.

The shower overlaps with the Perseids, the Alpha Capricornids and a diffuse background of meteors from the antihelion region, the part of the sky opposite the Sun. To tell them apart, trace each meteor backward. A moderate-speed meteor that leads back toward Aquarius is likely a Delta Aquariid. A very slow one from a bit farther west is probably an Alpha Capricornid. A swift one from the northeast is a Perseid.

Notable history

The Southern Delta Aquariids usually hold near their maximum for about two days rather than a few hours, according to IMO. IMO records rare outbursts, each reaching a ZHR (zenithal hourly rate) of about 40: one reported by Australian observers on the night of July 28-29, 1977, and one seen from Crete on July 28-29, 2003. Both came a little before the maximum date found in recent years.

2026 and 2027 outlook

2026 (past). The late-July maximum fell close to the full Moon of July 29, and IMO expected moonlight to hamper observations.

2027. IMO expects the maximum around July 31, with no moonlight interference at the end of July. With a dark sky, this is a good year to try, especially from the southern states. The full year’s events are on our 2027 calendar.