Big Things in Pacific Northwest Skies: 3 Meteor Showers for Oregon, Washington, the Coast

Published 7/23/24 at 12:05 a.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection

(Portland, Oregon) – There's something sizable going on in the skies above the Pacific Northwest right now, and it can be spectacular. And yet the show is really just beginning with a whole host of meteor showers above Washington, Oregon and the coastlines. (Photo NASA)

The Delta Aquariids, Alpha Capricornids and the Perseids are all happening right now, with the Aquariids and Capricornids peaking later this week.

Indeed, Oregon Coast Beach Connection witnessed some of this. Friday night, in spite of a rather large moon and a bit of haze, staff saw some four meteors (one of them really bright) and one satellite in the space of 15 minutes. It was astounding.

And yet the peaks of these two smaller showers were still a good week away.

Meteor showers come from the dust clouds left in space, often from large comets. Are we going through an extra dense cloud of interstellar dust this time?

According to the south Oregon coast's NASA ambassador Dr. Aaron Coyner (from Coos Bay's Southwestern Oregon Community College), probably not. He thinks there's just luck involved, although he said there have been some good reports of sightings around the U.S.

Shooting stars in Portland / Oregon Coast Beach Connection

“Typically, we see 2 to 3 random meteors an hour just on any night,” Dr. Coyner said. “Maybe we hit a particularly large dust clump, so you get a few in a short time.”

The Delta Aquariids are here from July 18 through August 21, and they're better seen down south of the equator. North of the equator, the radiant is positioned lower in the southern sky, resulting in lower visibility compared to southern regions.

This particular shower typically produces good rates for about a week centered around its peak night – which is July 29 - 30. The meteors are usually faint and lack persistent trains and fireballs. Also, these don't produce much, perhaps about 5 or so an hour. Yet some of them can be quite spectacular.

This year, moonlight will have minimal impact due to the waning crescent moon setting in the early morning hours.

The Alpha Capricornids are bouncing around above us from July 7 through August 15 with its peak on July 30 and 31. They are not very strong and rarely shoot out more than five glowing balls per hour. However, what is notable about this shower is the number of bright fireballs produced during its run.

Then there's the Perseids. They are the top dog, if this were any kind of celestial contest. These can produce some 50 to 75 shooting stars per hour at their peak, which is August 11 and 12.

If you're heading to the Oregon coastline or Washington coast, and the weather is clear, you're going to get an eyeful. Really, that's true of the entire Pacific Northwest: from Spokane and Seattle to Westport, and from Pendleton to Cannon Beach, Forest Grove down through Medford and over to Florence.

“Made of tiny space debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle, the Perseids are named after the constellation Perseus,” said Jim Todd of Portland's OMSI. “The Perseids are widely sought after by astronomers and stargazers because most years at its peak, one can see 60 to 100 meteors in an hour from a dark place.”

They started a little over a week ago on July 14 and run until September 1.

Luckily, according to Dr. Coyner, the moon won't be much of a problem after 1 a.m. as it sets at that time during the peak in August.

What's interesting here is that the farther north you go, the higher the Perseids' radiant.

Star movement at Arch Cape / Oregon Coast Beach Connection

“The location they'll appear to be coming from is called the radiant – they're coming from Perseus,” Dr. Coyner told Oregon Coast Beach Connection. “If you're in a higher latitude the Perseids shift higher in the sky. Which is helpful, because you're not dealing with getting blocked from any of the forests we love so much around here.”

That means good things for those up in Washington and its coastline: they could be easier to see..

“It's not that they're in the atmosphere longer up there, they just don't disappear into the haze on the horizon as quickly,” Dr. Coyner said.

Whether you're at the coastlines of the Northwest or in places like Ashland or Salem, make sure you check out the clear skies at night.

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