Everything You Need to Know About Meteor ShowersFrom the Perseids to the Geminids, this guide covers everything you need to know about meteor showers. Don't miss out on this spectacle!
If you're a fan of stargazing, you won't want to miss a meteor shower. Each year the Earth moves through through a trail of debris left by a comet or asteroid, producing meteor showers at roughly the same time each year. As the debris enters Earth's atmosphere, it heats up and creates a streak of light in the sky, commonly known as a shooting star. The debris is typically made up of small rocks and dust particles, and the number of shooting stars visible during a meteor shower can range from a few to hundreds per hour. Some of the most well-known meteor showers include the Perseids, the Geminids, and the Leonids.
Meteor showers are named after the constellation from which they appear to originate. For example, the Perseids appear to come from the constellation Perseus.
No two meteor showers are alike, and each is capable of springing surprises. Meteors showers appear to emanate from a small area of the sky known as the radiant, and each meteor shower is named after the radiant's location. The Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) is a value given to the number of meteors you would see in an hour if the radiant was directly overhead under a dark sky.
The best time to observe any meteor shower is after midnight during its peak when you're facing the Earth's direction of motion through space, with the radiant at its highest. The peak varies depending on the shower, but can usually be predicted ahead of time. It's also important to find a location with minimal light pollution, such as a rural area or a designated dark sky park. Check the weather forecast and plan to watch during a clear night. Bring a blanket or chair to sit on and allow your eyes to adjust to the darkness for at least 20 minutes before the shower begins.
How to See Meteor Showers
Meteor showers are really easy to view, and you don't need any special equipment. It helps to get out of cities away from artificial lights and light pollution. Take warm clothes, hot drinks and blanket or a comfortable chair with you. Viewing meteors, just like all astronomy, is a waiting game and you need to be comfortable, especially during the winter months. Finally, you need to let your eyes adapt to the dark - avoid looking at your mobile phone or any other light as they will hinder night vision.
Meteors will always travel away from the constellation for which the shower is named. This apparent point of origin is called the radiant. For example, if you look directly at Gemini you will see geminid meteors radiate out from the constellation. Lying down and observing overhead can be the best way to observe meteor showers.
The only thing you will need is a clear and comfortable dark spot. You won't have to use binoculars or a telescope to enjoy the night's sky.
The showers will appear in the sky like shooting stars so be sure to make a wish as they pass you by.
Photographing Meteor Showers
To capture great meteor shower photos you need to get away from city lights and find a location with dark skies. Opt for a location with good all round sky visibility, but also something interesting in the foreground - a tree, rock formation, river - these all work well to create an interesting scene.
For photographing meteor showers, a digital camera mounted on a tripod is essential to steady the images. Use the widest angle lens you have to capture as much of the sky as possible and be sure to have the camera lens focused on infinity.
Meteors will move swiftly across the sky so clicking the shutter when you see a meteor won't capture anything. Using the camera's self-timer set to continuous can be the best bet. This will continuously take shots until you stop it, maximising the chances of a strike.
You can experiment with shutter settings prior to the shower starting to find the exposure for your ambient lighting. You want the foreground to be illuminated enough to see it without any skyglow being too bright. As a starting point set the camera to ISO800, lowest aperture number (f/2-3 is best) and a 10 second exposure. See what the results look like and adjust from there.
The Most Active and Impressive Meteor Showers
There are several meteor showers throughout the year, but some are more spectacular than others. The Perseids, which occur in August, are one of the most popular and can produce up to 100 meteors per hour. The Geminids, which occur in December, are also a favorite and can produce up to 120 meteors per hour. Other notable meteor showers include the Leonids in November and the Quadrantids in January. Keep an eye on the calendar and plan ahead to catch these amazing celestial events.
Quadrantid Meteor Shower
The Quadrantid Meteor Shower have the potential to be the strongest shower of the year but is usually marred by poor January weather and the short length of maximum activity of 6 hours.
The Quadrantid meteor shower is the first meteor shower each year. The shower comes each year in early January and favours the Northern Hemisphere as its radiant is far North in the constellation of Bootes. The peak occurs on the night of the 3rd of January, which will hopefully be Moon free.
The Quadrantid Meteor Shower is named after the obsolete constellation Quadrans Muralis, now part of Bootes. Under dark skies, you can expect average hourly rates of 80, frequently showing as bright fireballs.
The radiant point of the Quadrantid Meteor Shower is inside the constellation Bootes. It lies between the end of the handle of the Big Dipper and the quadrilateral of stars marking the head of the constellation Draco. This meteor shower is best seen in the Northern Hemisphere, but you can see Quadrantids down to -51° latitude.
Lyrid Meteor Shower
The annual Lyrid Meteor Shower peaks around April 22nd with a display of 10 to 20 meteors per hour over the Northern Hemisphere.
The Lyrids originate from a stream of debris from Comet Thatcher. You can expect between 5 to 20 meteors per hour around the peak dates.
The annual Lyrids are medium-strength showers that typically range from 5 to 20 meteors per hour around the peak dates. These meteors are best seen from the northern hemisphere where the radiant is high in the sky at dawn. Activity from this shower can be seen from the southern hemisphere but at a lower rate.
Forecasters expect the shower to peak on April 22nd, with a display of 10 to 20 meteors per hour over the Northern Hemisphere. Occasionally, Earth passes through a dense region of the comet's tail and rates surge five- to ten-fold. In 1982, for instance, observers were surprised by an outburst of 90 Lyrids per hour. Because Thatcher's tail has never been mapped in detail, the outbursts are unpredictable and could happen again at any time.
The best time to look, no matter where you live, is during the dark hours before dawn on the morning of April 22nd.
Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower
The Eta Aquariids are a strong shower when viewed from the southern tropics. From the equator northward, they usually only produce medium rates of 10-30 per hour just before dawn. Activity is good for a week centred on the night of maximum activity.
The Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower is usually active between April 19 and May 28 every year.
The radiant, the point in the sky where the Eta Aquarids seem to emerge from, is in the direction of the constellation Aquarius. The shower is named after the brightest star of the constellation, Eta Aquarii.
The Eta Aquarids is one of two meteor showers created by debris from Comet Halley. The Earth passes through Halley's path around the Sun a second time in October. This creates the Orionid meteor shower, which peaks around October 20.
Alpha Capricornids Meteor Shower
The Alpha Capricornids Meteor Shower are active from July 11 through August with a "plateau-like" maximum centred on July 29. This shower is not very strong and rarely produces more than 5-10 shower members per hour. What is notable about this shower is the number of bright fireballs produced during its activity period. The Alpha Capricornids can be seen equally well on either side of the equator. The Alpha Capricornids have infrequent but relatively bright meteors, with some fireballs.
Delta Aquariid Meteor Shower
Delta Aquariid Meteor Shower is a strong shower best seen from the southern tropics. North of the equator the radiant is low in the south. The Delta Aquariid Meteor Shower produces good rates for a week centred on the night of maximum, around 29th July. These are usually faint meteors that lack both persistent trains and fireballs. Under dark skies expect to see around 20 meteors per hour.
Perseid Meteor Shower
The Perseid meteor shower is the most popular as they peak on warm August nights as seen from the northern hemisphere. The Perseids are active from July 13 to August 26, reaching a strong maximum on August 11 - 13, depending on the year. Normal rates seen from rural locations range from 50-75 meteors per hour at maximum and can peak at over 100 per hour.
In astronomy, there's nothing quite like a bright meteor streaking across the glittering canopy of a moonless night sky. The unexpected flash of light adds a dash of magic to an ordinary walk under the stars. Something even more spectacular than a meteor is a fireball, and the Perseid meteor shower produces more fireballs than any other.
A fireball is a very bright meteor, at least as bright as the planets Jupiter or Venus. They can be seen on any given night as random meteoroids strike Earth's upper atmosphere. One fireball every few hours is not unusual. Fireballs become more numerous, however, when Earth is passing through the debris stream of a comet.
The Perseid meteor shower comes from Comet Swift-Tuttle. Every year in early- to mid-August, Earth passes through a cloud of dust sputtered off the comet as it approaches the sun. Perseid meteoroids hitting our atmosphere at 132,000 mph produce an annual light show that is a favourite of many backyard skywatchers.
Draconid Meteor Shower
The Draconid Meteor Shower occurs each year around Oct 8th when Earth passes through the dusty debris from Comet Giacobini-Zinner. Astronomers and star-gazers consider it to be one of the most spectacular meteor showers of the year. The Draconid meteor shower is also known as the Giacobinids. It is one of two meteor showers to grace our skies in October.
The Draconid Meteor Shower radiates from the fiery mouth of the northern constellation Draco the Dragon and peaks on the nights of the 7th - 8th of October. This shower had an unusually rich peak in 2011, but meteor rates this year are expected to be back to normal, meaning only around 10 meteors each hour.
Unlike most meteor showers, the Draconids are best seen in the evening, instead of before dawn.
To get the best view look away from the moon, towards the northern half of the sky.
Stargazers should also keep an eye out for the Orionids. It usually peaks much later on in the month, around October 21.
Orionid Meteor Shower
The Orionid Meteor Shower is a medium-strength shower that can reach high-strength activity when Earth passes the debris of Comet Halley. In a normal year, the Orionids produce 15-20 shower members at maximum. In exceptional years, such as 2006-2009, the peak rates were on par with the Perseids (50-75 per hour).
The Orionid Meteor Shower is framed by some of the brightest and most beautiful constellations in the night sky. The meteors emerge from mighty Orion, the shower's glittering namesake. From there they streak through Taurus the Bull, the twins of Gemini, Leo the Lion, and Canis Major--home to Sirius, the most brilliant star of all.
The Orionid meteor shower is one of two meteor showers created by debris from Comet Halley. The Earth passes through Halley's path around the Sun the first between April and May. This creates the Eta Aquarids, which peak around May 19.
Cometary debris streams like Halley's are so wide, the whole Earth-Moon system fits inside. So when there is a meteor shower on Earth, there's usually one on the Moon, too. Unlike Earth, however, the Moon has no atmosphere to intercept meteoroids. Pieces of debris fall to the surface and explode where they hit. Flashes of light caused by thermal heating of lunar rocks and moondust are so bright, they can sometimes be seen through backyard-class telescopes.
The best time to look is before sunrise on Wednesday, Oct. 21st. That's when Earth encounters the densest part of Halley's debris stream. Observing is easy: Wake up a few hours before dawn, brew some hot chocolate, go outside and look up. No telescope is required to see Orionids shooting across the sky.
Orionids appear every year around this time when Earth orbits through an area of space littered with debris from the ancient comet. Normally, the shower produces 10 to 20 meteors per hour, a modest display. The past few years, however, have been much better than usual.
Taurid Meteor Shower
The Taurid meteor shower gets underway with a peak around the 12th of November. Expect an average zenithal hourly rate of 5 meteors per hour. The annual Taurid Meteor Shower originates from the gritty debris from parent comet 2P/Encke. When the same thing happened in 2005, skywatchers observed a slow drizzle of midnight fireballs for nearly two weeks.
This shower is much like the Southern Taurids, just active a bit later in the year. When the two showers are active simultaneously in late October and early November, there is sometimes a notable increase in fireball activity. There seems to be a seven-year periodicity with these fireballs. 2008 was the last remarkable year. Perhaps 2015 will be the next?
The peak of the Taurid Meteor Shower occurs around the 12th of November and has an average zenithal hourly rate of seven meteors per hour.
Leonid Meteor Shower
The Leonid Meteor Shower is famous because it is one of the most spectacular, especially when there is a meteor storm. The Leonids are famous because their meteor showers, or storms, can be among the most spectacular. The outbursts of meteor activity are best seen when their parent object, comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, is near perihelion (closest approach to the sun).
Leonids are bits of debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Every 33 years the comet visits the inner solar system and leaves a stream of dusty debris in its wake. Many of these streams have drifted across the November portion of Earth's orbit. Whenever we hit one, meteors come flying out of the constellation Leo.
The Leonids are famous for storming, most recently in 1999-2002 when deep crossings of Tempel-Tuttle's debris streams produced outbursts of more than 1000 meteors per hour. The Leonids this year won't be like that, but it only takes one bright Leonid streaking past Mars to make the night worthwhile. Under dark skies expect around 10 meteors per hour.
Geminid Meteor Shower
The Geminid Meteor Shower is one of the major meteor showers that provide good activity before midnight as the constellation of Gemini is well placed from 10 pm onward. These meteors are also seen in the southern hemisphere, but only during the middle of the night and at a reduced rate.
Geminids are pieces of debris from a strange object called 3200 Phaethon. Long thought to be an asteroid, Phaethon is now classified as an extinct comet. It is, basically, the rocky skeleton of a comet that lost its ice after too many close encounters with the sun. Earth runs into a stream of debris from 3200 Phaethon every year in mid-December, causing meteors to fly from the constellation Gemini.
In 2015 the peak of the meteor shower fell on a new moon, making for excellent dark skies. Last year's Full Moon meant that it was very difficult to see any meteors. This year the moon is a waning crescent, so the skies won't be completely dark, but the thin crescent shouldn't be too disruptive to this bright meteor shower. Should the skies be clear we could be in for an awesome meteor shower with up to 100 meteors per hour. The peak night of activity for the Geminid meteor shower is around December 13th (evening of December 13th until dawn December 14th)
Ursid Meteor Shower
The Ursid Meteor Shower (Ursids) is often neglected because it peaks just before Christmas and the rates are much less than the Geminds. Observers will normally see 5-10 Ursids per hour during the late morning hours on the date of maximum activity. The Ursid Meteor Shower has been known for occasional outbursts when rates have exceeded 25 per hour. These outbursts appear unrelated to the perihelion dates of comet 8P/Tuttle.
