The Annual Meteor Shower Calendar — A Year of Shooting Stars
From the Quadrantids to the Geminids, here's a rundown of the year's major meteor showers with their peak dates and expected hourly rates (ZHR).
Where do shooting stars come from?
A meteor is a tiny grain of dust or rock drifting through space that burns brightly as it plunges into Earth's atmosphere at tens of kilometers per second and rubs against the air. Most of this debris is left behind when a comet passes near the Sun and sheds material as it warms. When Earth crosses that same cometary trail at the same time each year, it plows through a dense patch of debris and many meteors fall in a short span — that's a "meteor shower."
A shower's meteors appear to streak outward from one point in the sky, the "radiant," and showers are named for the constellation that point sits in — the Leonids, the Geminids, and so on. The radiant just marks where the trails trace back to; the meteors themselves can flash anywhere across the sky.
Counting them — what is ZHR?
A shower's intensity is usually expressed as "ZHR" (Zenithal Hourly Rate) — the number of meteors an observer could expect to see per hour under ideal conditions, with the radiant directly overhead and the sky very dark. In practice you'll usually see far fewer, depending on the radiant's altitude, moonlight, and light pollution.
So even a shower with a high ZHR can feel underwhelming under a bright moon or city lights. To enjoy a shower properly, pick a moonless night around the peak, find the darkest spot you can, let your eyes fully adapt to the dark, and take in as much of the sky as possible.
The year's major meteor showers
Below are the showers that return reliably every year, with their approximate peak dates and ZHR. Actual peak dates can shift by a day or two from year to year, so check that year's astronomical calendar for the precise timing.
| Shower | Peak (approx.) | ZHR (per hr) | Radiant constellation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quadrantids | Early January | ~80–120 | near Boötes |
| Eta Aquariids | Early May | ~40–50 | Aquarius |
| Perseids | Mid-August | ~60–100 | Perseus |
| Orionids | Late October | ~15–20 | Orion |
| Leonids | Mid-November | ~10–15 (periodic outbursts) | Leo |
| Geminids | Mid-December | ~100–150 | Gemini |
Tips for watching a meteor shower
Meteor showers are best enjoyed with the naked eye — no special gear needed. A telescope or binoculars narrow your field of view and can actually make you miss meteors. Lie back on a mat or reclining chair so the whole sky is in view, and look at a wide patch of sky somewhat away from the radiant itself; you'll catch more long-tailed meteors that way.
Most showers pick up after midnight and get better toward dawn, because the pre-dawn sky faces the direction Earth is moving in its orbit, plowing head-on into the debris. Give yourself plenty of time — at least 30 minutes for your eyes to adapt to the dark — and watch patiently; that's the best way to enjoy a meteor shower.