Hyderabad: Your Instagram feeds are about to be filled with images of night-sky scenery or celestial events, as next week, three sky events converge between August 12 and 14.
With millions of posts uploaded on social media every day, it would be easy for the three events — a total solar eclipse, the Perseid meteor shower and a six-planet gathering — to blur into one.
Before the streaked-sky photos and breathless captions arrive, here is a guide on what to expect.
The eclipse India will not see
Although for Indians the eclipse won’t be visible, the other two events will be, with conditions this year close to perfect.
The total solar eclipse of August 12 tracks across the Arctic, Greenland, Iceland and northern Spain. By the time the moon’s shadow crosses Spain at around 18:30 UTC, it will be around midnight in India.
Data for Hyderabad show the sun between 37 and 58 degrees below the horizon throughout the eclipse window. Meaning no part of India will see any phase of the eclipse, making it more of a livestream event than a skywatching one.
Meteor shower peak timed almost perfectly for India
The Perseid meteor shower is the debris of Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. It is believed to peak at 14:53 UTC on August 13, which is 08:23 pm in India on Wednesday evening (August 12), right as full darkness settles over India. In Hyderabad, astronomical darkness begins at 07:59 pm, making the timing unusually kind to Indian viewers.
The single biggest factor in meteor visibility is the eclipse. Since an eclipse means a new moon, there will be no moonlight at all this year, and under dark rural skies, rates could approach 100 meteors an hour.
How to watch from Hyderabad
Here is an hour-by-hour plan depicting how to watch the meteor shower from Hyderabad during the intervening night of August 13 and 14.
From 08:00–10:00 pm, the sky will be fully dark. However, the shower’s radiant point in the constellation Perseus is still below the north-eastern horizon. At this time, a few long “earthgrazer” meteors may be visible.
At 10:00 pm, the radiant point rises in the north-east, building the rates slowly.
The best window to catch the meteor shower is from 1 am to 04:40 am on August 14. The radiant climbs 23 to 44 degrees above the horizon, with Hyderabad’s side of the Earth turning into the incoming debris stream. The highest rates of the year can be expected in these hours.
After 04:41 am, astronomical twilight begins and the sky starts brightening as the sun will rise at 05:58 am.
The same dawn, a six-planet gathering
While the meteor watch winds down, the planet parade takes over the pre-dawn sky on August 12, 13 and 14. At 04:30 am on the 14th, Mars stands 28 degrees high in the east. Saturn dominates the western sky at 72 degrees. Both will be easy naked-eye targets. Meanwhile, Uranus, 54 degrees up high in the east, will need binoculars, and Neptune a telescope.
Between 05:15 and 05:30 am is when the dawn’s closing act arrives. Mercury and Jupiter rise together low in the east-northeast, separated by only a couple of degrees, a pairing worth the wait if the horizon is clear. The alignment makes four planets visible to the unaided eye, and two more for those carrying equipment.
Where and how to watch
The Perseids need no equipment, only darkness, patience and a wide view of the sky. Here is how to optimise the experience.
Get out of the city. Hyderabad’s light pollution will cut visible meteors to a fraction. Ananthagiri Hills near Vikarabad, about 90 km away, is the closest reliable dark-sky spot. Any open ground away from highway lighting helps.
Keep a watch on the weather. Mid-August is monsoon season, and cloudy weather is the one factor that can ruin the night. It is advisable to check the satellite imagery before setting out. A partly clear window should be enough, since meteors appear across the whole sky.
Give your eyes 20–30 minutes to adapt and avoid phone screens or use the red-light mode. Lying flat with feet pointing roughly north-east will be optimal to take in as much sky as possible. However, do not stare at the radiant as meteors appear longest away from it.
The most important tip: Dress appropriately for a damp August night and carry mosquito or insect repellent.
The bottom line
India misses the eclipse entirely, but gets a better deal. A moonless Perseid peak falling in the early hours of August 14, followed by four bright planets strung right at dawn.
For Hyderabad, set the alarm for 01:00 am on August 14, and check the clouds first before proceeding.
For more information on the Perseid meteor shower and a watching guide, click here.
Verified timings (computed with NASA/JPL DE421 ephemeris for 17.
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