It’s peak Milky Way viewing season at the moment – even if it’s not peak meteor season. Photo: Grant Hardwick.
If you’ve seen a lot of fuss online about the upcoming Perseids meteor shower, don’t bother getting out of bed for it.
Not because it isn’t the best annual meteor shower in the world – it is. And not because it’s difficult to see with the naked eye – the shower is so bright you can see dozens of meteors per hour even in light-polluted areas.
It’s not one of those meteor showers that happens awkwardly about 2 am either, leaving you snoring at your desk like a World Cup Soccer fan.
The Perseids turn up, brightly, reliably and in abundance at a civilised hour – in the Northern Hemisphere.
Dr Brad Tucker, an astrophysicist and cosmologist at the Australian National University, said if you could get past your disappointment at not catching a glimpse of the Perseids, there was plenty to see in southern skies.
“The Perseids are good, reliable and reliably not for us,” he said.
“The next good meteor shower for us is the Orionids in mid-October, but the best one for Australia is the Geminids around 14-15 December.
“Depending on the moon and weather conditions you can see one to two dozen per hour in decent viewing areas.”
If you’ve already planned a Perseids viewing adventure, your efforts won’t be wasted.
Dr Tucker said although the Southern Hemisphere wasn’t blessed with the abundance of meteors that showered the Northern Hemisphere, our skies held their own magic.
The best part is you don’t even need a telescope to see it.
“There’s some really cool stuff we can see here that they just don’t get in the Northern Hemisphere,” Dr Tucker said.
“We’re at the peak end of Milky Way season, and our view of our galaxy is vastly superior. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people call it the emu in the sky.
“We’re currently at the peak where the emu body is starting to come down; it’s a great chance to go out and see it.”
If you’d like to get a glimpse at something a little further afield, Australian skies offer a unique view of two of our neighbouring galaxies.
If you head out into a dark area and look a little below and to the right of the Southern Cross you might see a fuzzy cloud.
After a little while you might notice the cloud isn’t moving.
“Our neighbouring galaxies are the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds,” Dr Tucker said.
“If you have binoculars you can see even more. You’ll get lots of details of the craters on the moon, and binoculars can give you a good look at Mars, Venus and Jupiter, which is bright and rises in the early evening.
“With binoculars you can see Venus has phases like the moon.”
Now you know what you’re looking for, Dr Tucker has some tips for how to make the most of your stargazing expedition.
First of all, check the weather for a clear night, ideally one where the moon is just a sliver in the sky.
Find a dark place – although it may not need to be as dark as you think.
“Getting away from immediate light like streetlights and house lights makes a big difference, so in a park, oval or grassland you can immediately see more objects,” Dr Tucker said.
“If you can get a bit out of town, go in a direction that puts the light of the town behind you when you’re looking at the part of the sky with objects you want to see.
“The Magellanic Clouds, Milky Way and Southern Cross are all in the south, so if you put the city to your north you aren’t looking through that light haze to see them.
“If you’re looking for planets, look for bright objects that don’t twinkle.”
Happy stargazing!
