Meteors from the Phoenicids meteor shower streak across the sky in Lincoln, Canterbury region, New Zealand on 9 December 2023. Photo: AFP / Sanka Vidangama
Two meteor showers will light up the dark skies on Tuesday night, but whether the forecast will allow Kiwis to gaze upon the stars is an entirely different story.
Southern delta-Aquarids and alpha-Capricornids will peak at the same time late tomorrow night until the the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Stargazes should be able see 10 to 20 meteorites every hour of the Southern delta-Aquarids meteor, while it's rare to see more than five of the alpha-Capricornids in any one hour, but it can appear as bright as any star.
This is expected be most visible between midnight and 1am, as the radiant (near a star called alpha Capricornii) reaches its highest point in the night sky.
However, that may not matter if the weather forecast has anything to do about it.
Cloud cover promises to spoil the meteor show, with much of New Zealand in for heavy rain, and strong winds.
MetService has again issued heavy rain warnings for Tasman - a region still recovering from recent storms. A weather front, moving east across the country, is expected to bring up to 180mm of rain to the region.
There were orange rain warnings in place for Tasman east and south of Motueka, Nelson and Marlborough west of Havelock, and north of the Wairau River, through to Tuesday evening.
In the North Island there were strong wind warnings across Northland, Coromandel and Bay of Plenty expected on Tuesday. Coromandel residents might also get heavy rain, with a high chance of it reaching warning level.
A heavy rain warning was already in place for Taranaki Maunga and a heavy rain watch for the central mountain ranges, while strong winds were possible to the south.
If the clouds do stay away and rain allows you to adventure outside, the meteorites will be best observed with the naked eye.
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