The Draconid meteor bathe will peak on Sunday (Oct. 9), providing an opportunity to see fireballs showing to originate from the dragon of the Draco constellation.
Sadly, this yr’s peak coincides with October’s full Hunter’s Moon, which means circumstances are removed from very best for catching a glimpse of the Draconids. Nonetheless, the radiant level (the purpose from which the meteors seem to originate) ought to be highest within the sky simply earlier than dusk, round 5:00 p.m. native time, which means it might be doable to see a few of the meteor shower round nightfall earlier than the full moon rises.
Underneath very best dark-sky circumstances, you may have the ability to see as much as 10 Draconid meteors per hour, according to EarthSky (opens in new tab). But there have been years the place tons of of Draconids have been seen in a single hour, so despite the fact that circumstances aren’t very best with the full moon, it’d nonetheless be price it to attempt to see a few of the dragon’s fireballs.
Associated: Draco Constellation: Facts About the Dragon
The Draconids are typically known as the Giacobinids, as a result of they’re the remnants of the small periodic comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner that was first found in 1900. The comet has a 6.6-year orbit and final made its closest strategy to Earth in 2018 when it got here nearer than it had in 72 years. In 1985, the Worldwide Cometary Explorer, or ICE, grew to become the primary spacecraft to conduct a flyby of a comet when it noticed 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, flying straight through the comet’s tail.
The Draconids have been considerably quiet in recent times, however produced a few of the most spectacular shows within the twentieth century in 1933 and 1946 when 1000’s of meteors per hour had been seen, in keeping with the U.K. Meteor Network (opens in new tab).
To finest see the Draconids or every other meteor bathe, discover a darkish location and lean or lie again to get as huge a view of the sky as doable. Your eyes will take round half-hour to regulate to the darkish.
If you’d like recommendation on find out how to {photograph} the Draconids or every other meteor bathe, be certain to not miss our how to photograph meteors and meteor showers information and should you want imaging gear, contemplate our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography.
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