Meteor showers coming up
Dates and viewing times below are worked out for your location. Tap a shower and your phone will point you to the part of the sky its meteors come from.
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Working out your sky…
How to watch
- Get away from streetlights and give your eyes 20 minutes to adjust. Turn on the red screen so checking your phone doesn’t undo it.
- Lie back and take in as much sky as you can. Meteors appear all over, not just near the point they come from.
- The hours after midnight are usually best, because your side of Earth is then heading into the stream of dust.
What the numbers mean
The rate is how many meteors one person would see in an hour under a perfectly dark sky with the shower’s radiant overhead. In real conditions, expect a fraction of that, and fewer from a town or with a bright Moon.
Where meteors come from
Each shower happens when Earth passes through a trail of dust left by a comet, or in the Geminids’ case an asteroid. The bits burn up high in the atmosphere, and because they arrive side by side, they all seem to spread out from one spot in the sky, called the radiant.
Questions
Do I need a telescope?
No. Meteors move too fast for a telescope or binoculars. Just your eyes and a wide view of the sky.
Which meteor shower is the best?
The Geminids in December and the Perseids in August are usually the strongest. The Perseids are the most popular because they fall on warm summer nights.
Why do I see so few meteors?
Light pollution and moonlight hide the fainter ones, and rates drop quickly away from the peak night. Find the darkest spot you can and give it at least half an hour.