Tukuk-OS☄️ Meteor Shower Calendar
Every shower of the year · peaks, rates and how to watch them
A meteor shower is Earth driving through the dust a comet (or, for a few, an asteroid) shed along its orbit. The grains are peppercorn-sized and burn up 70–120 km up — a meteor is not the rock, it is the flash the rock makes. Because the stream arrives from one direction, showers appear to radiate from a point in the sky, named after its constellation.
The shower year at a glance
| Shower | Active | Next peak | Countdown | Peak rate (ZHR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ☄️ Quadrantids | Dec 28 – Jan 12 | 3 Jan 2027 | in 58 nights | ~110 |
| ☄️ Lyrids | Apr 16 – 25 | 22 Apr 2027 | in 167 nights | ~15–20 |
| ☄️ Eta Aquariids | Apr 19 – May 28 | 5 May 2027 | in 180 nights | ~30–50 (southern best) |
| ☄️ Delta Aquariids | Jul 12 – Aug 23 | 30 Jul 2027 | in 266 nights | ~25 |
| ☄️ Perseids | Jul 17 – Aug 24 | 12 Aug 2027 | in 279 nights | ~100 |
| ☄️ Draconids | Oct 6 – 10 | 9 Oct 2027 | in 337 nights | ~10 (outburst years far more) |
| ☄️ Orionids | Oct 2 – Nov 7 | 21 Oct 2027 | in 349 nights | ~20 |
| ☄️ Taurids | Sep 10 – Nov 20 | 5 Nov 2026 | in 0 nights | ~5 (but fireballs) |
| ☄️ Leonids | Nov 6 – 30 | 17 Nov 2026 | in 11 nights | ~15 (storm potential) |
| ☄️ Geminids | Nov 24 – Dec 27 | 13 Dec 2026 | in 37 nights | ~120–150 |
| ☄️ Ursids | Dec 17 – 26 | 22 Dec 2026 | in 46 nights | ~10 |
How to watch one properly
Find a dark site away from town lights, lie back on a reclining chair or mat so you take in half the sky, and give your eyes 20–30 minutes to dark-adjust — one glance at a phone resets the clock. You do not need to face the radiant: meteors appear all across the sky, they just trace back to it. The best hours are after midnight until dawn, when your side of Earth faces along the dust stream like a car windshield into rain. Two exceptions: the Draconids put on their evening show, and the Geminids are good from about 22:00 local.
The two numbers that decide your night
Moonlight is the big one — a gibbous moon washes out all but the brightest meteors, cutting real counts by half or worse; plan around the new-moon windows. Clouds and light pollution do the rest: ZHR figures below assume a perfectly dark sky with the radiant overhead — from a suburban garden expect a fraction of the printed rate, and from a moonless mountain site on peak night, the full show.
Shower by shower
☄️ Quadrantids · peak 3 Jan
Active: Dec 28 – Jan 12 Best rate (ZHR): ~110 Radiant: Boötes (near the pole star) From: asteroid 2003 EH1
The sharpest maximum of the year lasts only a few hours — usually before dawn, low in the north-east.
☄️ Lyrids · peak 22 Apr
Active: Apr 16 – 25 Best rate (ZHR): ~15–20 Radiant: Lyra, beside Vega From: Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher
Ancient — logged 2,700 years running; short bright trains, occasional surprise outbursts.
☄️ Eta Aquariids · peak 5 May
Active: Apr 19 – May 28 Best rate (ZHR): ~30–50 (southern best) Radiant: Aquarius From: Comet 1P/Halley
Halley’s outbound dust: fast, often persistent-train meteors, best from the southern hemisphere in the pre-dawn hours.
☄️ Delta Aquariids · peak 30 Jul
Active: Jul 12 – Aug 23 Best rate (ZHR): ~25 Radiant: Aquarius (low south) From: Comet 96P/Machholz
A slow, steady warm-season shower — greenish meteors arching up from the south; near its peak on the equinox of southern nights.
☄️ Perseids · peak 12 Aug
Active: Jul 17 – Aug 24 Best rate (ZHR): ~100 Radiant: Perseus, east of Cassiopeia From: Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle
The famous summer shower: warm, high, fireball-rich after midnight — the gateway meteor shower for most sky-watchers.
☄️ Draconids · peak 9 Oct
Active: Oct 6 – 10 Best rate (ZHR): ~10 (outburst years far more) Radiant: Draco, high all evening From: Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner
The rare evening shower — visible before dark-adaptation is complete, and capable of sudden storms when Earth crosses a dense dust trail.
☄️ Orionids · peak 21 Oct
Active: Oct 2 – Nov 7 Best rate (ZHR): ~20 Radiant: Orion, above Betelgeuse From: Comet 1P/Halley
Halley’s inbound lap: very fast meteors with lasting trains, and the rare Earth-grazing fireballs that light whole skies.
☄️ Taurids · peak 5 Nov
Active: Sep 10 – Nov 20 Best rate (ZHR): ~5 (but fireballs) Radiant: Taurus, near the Pleiades From: Comet 2P/Encke
Slow, brilliant, spread over weeks — the Halloween fireballs. Quantity is low; quality per meteor is the highest of any shower.
☄️ Leonids · peak 17 Nov
Active: Nov 6 – 30 Best rate (ZHR): ~15 (storm potential) Radiant: Leo’s sickle From: Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle
Famous for storms of thousands per hour on a ~33-year rhythm — the next dense-trail encounter window opens in the 2030s.
☄️ Geminids · peak 13 Dec
Active: Nov 24 – Dec 27 Best rate (ZHR): ~120–150 Radiant: Gemini, near Castor From: rocky asteroid 3200 Phaethon
The richest and most reliable of the year — colourful, slow enough to count by eye, and active from early evening onward.
☄️ Ursids · peak 22 Dec
Active: Dec 17 – 26 Best rate (ZHR): ~10 Radiant: close to the pole star From: Comet 8P/Tuttle
The solstice shower — modest but circumpolar: you can watch all night without the radiant ever setting mid-latitudes.