July 2025 will conclude with a flurry of meteor activity, offering great views to skywatchers as one major and one minor shower are lined up to offer their strongest activity just as the moon sets.
Both meteor showers will reach their strongest activity within just hours of each other, providing some of the last high-activity viewing opportunities before colder weather sets in. Additionally, observers may catch an early glimpse of the Perseids, which will arrive in full force a few weeks later from the constellation Perseus.
alpha Capricornids
The minor shower on deck is the Alpha Capricornids, which peak on July 30 during their viewing window from July 7 to August 13. A handful of the 3–5 hourly meteors may be quite bright, although most will be relatively dim. Their origin point—also known as the radiant—will appear near the double star Alpha Capricornii, visible to the naked eye when that portion of the sky rises around 8:00 p.m. local time in the constellation Capricornus.
However, most meteor activity early in the evening will still be blocked by the horizon. Between midnight and 1:00 a.m., skywatchers can expect the best views, as the radiant climbs higher and the moon has set. These slow-moving meteors will appear from due south, traveling at approximately 23 kilometers per second.
Southern Delta Aquariids
The other event is the major Southern Delta Aquariids shower, also peaking on July 30. This shower has a shorter viewing window than the Alpha Capricornids, occurring from July 19 to August 13. These meteors will become visible a bit later in the evening, with the radiant appearing around 10:00 p.m. and reaching its highest point in the south around 3:00 a.m.—roughly 40 degrees east of the Alpha Capricornids—originating from the constellation Aquarius.
Lasting under a second, these meteors will present a very different picture compared to the slower Alpha Capricornids, arriving more frequently at a rate of 5–10 per hour during their 3:00 a.m. peak in the Northern Hemisphere. Viewers in the Southern Hemisphere will enjoy a more direct view, with meteors arriving nearly overhead at rates of 10 to 20 per hour. The Southern Delta Aquariids are believed to be fragments of comet 96P/Machholz, a short-period comet that orbits the Sun approximately every five years.
Further Skygazing Opportunities
The month also offers sporadic meteor activity—those not associated with any particular shower—expected to arrive at rates of up to 10 per hour. In addition, a few early Perseid meteors may be visible in the northern sky, well ahead of their peak on August 12–13. Conversely, some lingering Southern Delta Aquariids may still be visible during the Perseids.
Most of the meteors from these events on July 30 will be faint, so the best views will be from rural areas with minimal light pollution. Traveling to such locations may be worthwhile, as these will be among the best meteor viewing opportunities until later in the year, when the Orionids and Southern Taurids arrive—along with much colder temperatures.
Finally, if the weather turns cloudy on the evening of July 30, viewers may still have opportunities in the early morning hours before and after the peak, as those times will also feature significant meteor activity.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.