Meteors are constantly entering and burning up in Earth’s atmosphere, providing stargazers with some of the most awe-inspiring celestial events of the year. There are currently more than 900 known annual meteor showers, of which around 100 are well-established, visual showers. In this article, however, we will focus on just the 10 best meteor showers of the year listed in chronological order.
Each particular annual meteor shower typically lasts weeks, and while their meteors can appear anywhere in the night sky, they are often seen in the same region of the sky associated with a particular star constellation. This region is known as the radiant. The Perseid meteor shower, for instance, produces meteors that appear to originate from a point within the constellation of Perseus.
Read on and find out when the next meteor shower is, whether there is a meteor shower tonight to enjoy, their peak dates and rates, and much more besides. So without further ado, here are the 10 best meteor showers of the year, and when they occur.
Quadrantids
- Radiant: Constellation Boötes
- Parent body: Minor planet 2003 EH1
- Usual peak date: January 3
- Best viewed from: Northern hemisphere (party visible down to 50 ° S)
- Maximum zenithal hourly rate: 120
- Meteor velocity: 41 km/s
The Quadrantids can deliver at least as many meteors per hour as the Geminids and the Perseids. However, the debris trail that creates the Quadrantid meteor shower is exceeding narrow. Consequently, most years more than 50% of the total Quadrantid meteor count occurs within only an 8-hour period or so. Moreover, many meteors in this shower go undetected as a result of being relatively dim, generally falling into the 3-6 magnitudes range.
The name “Quadrantids” derives from a former constellation known as Quadrans Muralis created in 1795. Although this contrived constellation is now a part of the constellation Boötes, an Italian observer reported in January 1825 that “the atmosphere was traversed by a multitude of the luminous bodies known by the name of falling stars [that] appeared to radiate from [the constellation] Quadrans Muralis”.
Lyrids
- Radiant: Constellation Lyra, near the star Vega (Alpha Lyrae)
- Parent body: Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1)
- Usual peak date: April 22
- Best viewed from: Northern hemisphere, under dark skies
- Maximum zenithal hourly rate: 18
- Meteor Velocity: 48 km/s
The Lyrids have recorded sightings dating back to 687 BC, making them the oldest known meteor shower. The Lyrids are also the richest meteor shower created by the debris of a long-period comet. Or more specifically by the comet C/1861 G1, which is classified as an intermediate long-period comet. Comets in this class typically have orbital periods that range from 200 years to more than 10,000 years, and are believed to originate in the Oort cloud. But since comet C/1861 G1 has an orbital period of only 415 years, the dust trail it creates is replenished more often than the trails of other long-period comets.
Occasionally, the Lyrid meteor shower produces a particularly rich display. Examples of such outbursts occurred in 1922 and 1982 as a result of the planets “pushing” the comet’s debris trail closer to Earth. Under these conditions, which happen on average once every 60 years, the Lyrids can produce meteor counts of several hundred per hour. In 1803, for instance, observers counted more than 700 meteors per hour.
Eta Aquariids
- Radiant: Constellation Aquarius, near the star Eta Aquarii
- Parent body: Halley’s Comet
- Usual peak date: May 6
- Best viewed from: Northern hemisphere, in hours just before sunrise
- Maximum zenithal hourly rate: 55
- Meteor velocity: 66 km/s
Unlike most other meteor showers, the Eta Aquariids do not produce a sharply defined peak. Instead, a slightly increased meteor count occurs for about a week centered on May 5.
The Eta Aquarid meteor shower are a Halley’s Comet associated meteor shower. It is also reasonably consistent from one year to the next in terms of meteor counts. However, in 2019, the orbit of Halley’s Comet was too far from Earth to produce rich displays. As a result, during its week of peak activity, just 1 meteor per minute was the best viewers could see from this shower. And even then only under dark skies from mid-northern latitudes.
Nonetheless, the 2013 Eta Aquarid meteor shower produced a significantly richer display than usual. This is thought to be a result of a very old dust trail left behind by Halley’s Comet that had somehow become trapped in an orbital resonance with Jupiter. On this occasion, the Eta Aquariids produced about 135 meteors per hour. However, it is not certain when, or if this display will repeat itself to the same extent.
Capricornids
- Radiant: Constellation Capricornus
- Parent body: Comet 169P/NEAT
- Usual peak date: Mid-July until mid-August
- Best viewed from: Northern hemisphere
- Maximum zenithal hourly rate: 2-5/h. Sometimes flaring meteor outbursts of 5-9/h
- Meteor velocity: Variable
The Capricornids rarely produce more than 9 meteors or so per hour. It does, however, produce many bright fireballs as a result of its debris trail containing fairly massive particles.
In 2005, comet 169P/NEAT was identified as the Capricornids meteor shower‘s parent body. Scientists believe the meteor shower was created between 3500-5000 years ago after the comet broke apart. Nevertheless, Earth will only start to encounter the main debris trail on an annual basis in about 400 years’ time. The Capricornids are subsequently expected to become richer than any of the currently known meteor showers.
Perseids
- Radiant: Constellation Perseus
- Parent body: Comet Swift–Tuttle
- Usual peak date: August 12
- Best viewed from: Northern hemisphere during the pre-dawn hours
- Maximum zenithal hourly rate: 60-100
- Meteor velocity: 58 km/s
The Perseids debris trail is known for being among the widest of all known cometary debris trails, stretching as it does across around 10% of the Earth-Sun distance. Most of the trail dust that Earth now encounters has been in the trail for around a thousand years. Furthermore, one particular young filament of dust created in 1865 can sometimes create a noticeable peak about one day before the primary peak occurs on August 12 each year.
The Perseids meteor shower typically runs from about mid-July to about August 14, with a broad peak that usually occurs from August 9 to August 14. During this time, up to 60 meteors per hour can be seen coming from outside the showers’ radiant in the constellation Perseus.
Orionids
- Radiant: Constellation Orion, near the red giant star Betelgeuse
- Parent body: Comet 1P/Halley
- Usual peak date: October 21
- Best viewed from: Mid-northern latitudes
- Maximum zenithal hourly rate: 20, but 50 -70 during some years
- Meteor velocity: 66.9 km/s
Of all the meteor showers that have Halley’s Comet as the parent body, the Orionids is by far the richest. The Orionid meteor shower sometimes delivers up to 70 meteors per hour during the peak period, which usually occurs over roughly a week during the second half of October. The Orionids’ radiant lies at a point between the constellations Orion and Gemini.
Taurids
- Radiant: Constellation Taurus
- Parent body: Comet 2P/Encke / Asteroid 2004 TG10
- Usual peak date: Southern Taurids (Oct. 10), Northern Taurids (Nov. 12)
- Best viewed from: Northern hemisphere
- Maximum zenithal hourly rate: 5
- Meteor velocity: 28 km/s
The Taurids meteor shower is actually a complex of meteor showers, consisting of clearly identifiable northern and southern components. The southern component originates from Comet Encke, and the northern component originates from the asteroid 2004 TG10.
Comet Encke is believed a remnant of a much bigger comet that disintegrated between 20,000-30,000 years ago. In terms of volume, the resulting dust trail is the biggest known in the inner solar system. In fact, this dust trail is so wide that it takes Earth several weeks to pass through it. Moreover, this dust trail is particularly rich in bigger particles, with many the size of small pebbles. This helps explain the Taurids’ famous bright fireballs.
The Taurids meteor shower has a complex pattern of peaks. For instance, the shower will have a particularly rich peak once every 2,500 to 3,000 years when Earth passes through a denser than usual part of the debris stream’s core. In addition, the northern and southern branches have peaks that overlap once every 3,000 or so years. This seems to be somewhat synchronous with the construction of megalithic structures such as the prehistoric monument Stonehenge. The next such peak will take place around the year 3000 AD.
Leonids
- Radiant: Constellation Leo
- Parent body: Comet 55P/Tempel–Tuttle
- Usual peak date: November 17
- Best viewed from: Northern hemisphere. Also partially from mid-to-high southern latitudes
- Maximum zenithal hourly rate: 15 to about 1000 during prolific outbursts
- Meteor velocity: 71 km
The Leonids are perhaps the most iconic of all meteor showers. This is no doubt a result of outbursts that have on occasion delivered several hundred thousand meteors per hour. The Great Leonids Meteor Storm of 1833, for instance, became known at the time as the “night the stars fell” with more than 72,000 meteors per hour falling to Earth. It’s interesting to note that even during usual displays, the Leonids can deposit as much as 13 metric tons of material across the planet.
The Leonid meteor shower is famous for producing bright, magnitude -1.5 fireballs. This is a result of particles that can be as big as 10 mm across, and weigh as much as 0.5 grams. However, the appearance of bright fireballs is not consistent from one year to the next because the main debris trail has split up into several discrete trails by gravity and solar radiation pressure. The effect of this? While the Leonids usually peak on the 17th/18th of November each year, it often happens that a broad peak spanning several days on either side of the usual peak dates occurs.
Geminids
- Radiant: Constellation Gemini, near the star Castor
- Parent body: Asteroid 3200 Phaethon
- Usual peak date: December 14
- Best viewed from: Northern hemisphere soon after sunset. Also in the southern hemisphere at about local midnight
- Maximum zenithal hourly rate: 120
- Meteor velocity: 35 km/s
Apart from the Quadrantids, the Geminids are the only major meteor shower that does not have a regular comet as its parent body. Instead, the Geminid meteor shower originates from a rocky minor planet. One interesting aspect of this shower is that it seems to be intensifying each year. In fact, recent hourly maxima have increased consistently to reach about 160 meteors per hour.
Geminids are also slow moving, with most meteors rarely exceeding velocities of around 35 km/s. This makes them very easy to spot and track as they move across the sky.
Ursids
- Radiant: Constellation Ursa Minor, near the star Kochab (Beta Ursae Minoris)
- Parent body: Comet 8P/Tuttle
- Usual peak date: December 22
- Best viewed from: Northern hemisphere
- Maximum zenithal hourly rate: 10
- Meteor velocity: 33 km/s
Although the Ursid meteor shower is fairly consistent in terms of peak dates, it is not a particularly rich shower. In some years, Ursid meteors may even be impossible to distinguish from usual background meteor activity. When comet 8P/Tuttle is at aphelion, though, outbursts can occur which typically produce up to 170 or so meteors per hour. At this point, part of the debris trail becomes trapped in a 7:6 orbital resonance with the planet Jupiter.
Note though that the Ursids debris trail is particularly narrow. This means it is possible to miss the peak altogether if you are not actively looking for increased activity within a period of 12 hours from the expected peak.
What Exactly is a Meteor Shower?
Most meteor showers are the result of the icy, dusty debris trails left behind by comets as they orbit our Sun. As the Earth makes its annual trek around the Sun, it travels through these various streams of small cometary fragments, which then burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. This in turn produces visible meteors, while if the fragments are big enough, very bright meteors called fireballs may be the result.