Sky Guide
Every year the Earth ploughs through streams of dust left behind by comets and a few asteroids. Those specks hit the atmosphere at tens of kilometres per second and flare into the streaks we call meteors. Here is when each major shower peaks, how many to expect, and how to watch — no telescope, no app, just a dark sky and your own eyes.
Nine reliable showers, in calendar order. Tap any for the full viewing guide.
One of the strongest annual showers, but with a famously sharp peak that lasts only a few hours — miss the window and the rates collapse. The meteors are medium-speed and often produce bright fireballs. Its parent, the asteroid 2003 EH1, is thought to be a dormant comet.
Viewing guide →The Lyrids are among the oldest recorded showers, observed for over 2,700 years. Rates are modest but the shower occasionally surprises with bright meteors that leave glowing persistent trains. Debris comes from the long-period Comet Thatcher.
Viewing guide →Dust shed by Halley's Comet burns up at very high speed, producing swift meteors that frequently leave long glowing trains. The radiant rises late, so the Southern Hemisphere — where it climbs higher before dawn — enjoys the best show.
Viewing guide →A long, gently active shower of medium-brightness, medium-speed meteors with no sharp maximum — instead it stays moderately active for weeks. It overlaps the early Perseids, so late-July nights can show meteors from both. The likely parent is sungrazing comet 96P/Machholz.
Viewing guide →The most beloved shower of the Northern Hemisphere summer: reliable rates of around 100 fast, bright meteors per hour, a good fraction leaving persistent trains, plus frequent fireballs. The parent comet, 109P/Swift-Tuttle, is the largest object known to repeatedly pass near Earth.
Viewing guide →The second of Halley's Comet's two annual showers. Like its springtime sibling the Eta Aquariids, the Orionids are fast and often leave glowing trains; some years deliver bright fireballs. The radiant, near Orion's club, is well placed for both hemispheres.
Viewing guide →The fastest of the major showers — Leonid meteors hit the atmosphere at about 71 km/s. Most years are modest, but roughly every 33 years, as parent comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle returns, the Leonids can erupt into spectacular meteor storms with thousands per hour, as famously in 1833 and 1966.
Viewing guide →Widely regarded as the best shower of the year: up to 120–150 slow, graceful, often multicoloured meteors per hour at peak. Unusually, its parent is not a comet but the rock-comet asteroid 3200 Phaethon. The radiant rises in the early evening, so the Geminids can be watched all night.
Viewing guide →A quiet, often-overlooked shower peaking around the December solstice, with the radiant near the bowl of the Little Dipper. Rates are usually around 10 per hour, though occasional outbursts have been recorded. Debris comes from Comet 8P/Tuttle.
Viewing guide →Meteor showers are just one kind of sky event. The astronomical calendar plots them alongside moon phases, eclipses, and planet oppositions for any year — and checks visibility from your location.