Draconid Meteor Shower 2024
- 23rd Sep 2024
- Author: Mike Darch (updated by Dhara Patel)
We've got some top tips and background information to help you understand what the 2024 Draconid meteor shower is and how you can spot it!
The Draconid Meteor Shower
This year the Draconid meteor shower will be in our night sky from the 6 – 10 October; a very small window of activity. During this time, it will peak on the evening of 8 October into the early morning of 9 October.
What is a meteor shower?
Now you might have heard of or even seen a meteor shower before, but what's actually happening, astronomically speaking? Well a meteor shower is a significant amount of meteors (sometimes called shooting stars) appearing in the night sky.
In space, Earth is travelling around the Sun, but we aren’t the only thing flying around out there. In fact there are lots of space rocks travelling around the solar system including comets, which are large collections of ice and dust. They orbit the Sun in highly elliptical orbits so come close to the Sun before they whizz back out away from our star. But because they are made of ice, as they approach the Sun, the heat from our star vaporises the comet’s ice. The comet leaves a leaves a trails of debris behind it, made of the material that was previously bound in the ice, and these remain even when the comet has moved on.
When we see a meteor shower on Earth, it’s because our planet is moving through the trail left behind by one of these comets which is will do each year and it returns to the same part of it's orbit where the comet's debris was left. The meteors you see are actually tiny pieces of this comet burning up as they travel down through the Earth's atmosphere. Even though they appear really bright some of these meteors can be as small as a grain of sand.
Why is it called the Draconids?
The Draconid meteor shower is named as such because these meteors appear to radiate out from a point in the night sky around the constellation of Draco. This constellation is huge which is good for us because it makes it easier to spot! To find Draco simply look for the asterism (familiar star pattern) called the Plough which is a part of the constellation Ursa Major. Between that and Ursa Minor you will find the “tail” of Draco the Dragon. The meteors will appear to radiate from a point in this constellation near the head of Draco.
The comet associated with the Draconid meteor shower is called 21P/Giacobini-Zinner and it orbits the Sun about once every 6.6 years. Even though it's such a long orbit compared to Earth, we still see a light show every year because of the trail it leaves.
At the peak of the Draconids, the moon will be in its waxing crescent phase which is great because it will set in the early evening providing darker viewing conditions without moonlight interference for the remainder of the night.
How to Watch from the UK
The great news is you don’t need any special equipment to watch a meteor shower! Just use your eyes to scan the skies. This meteor shower produces up to 10 meteors per hour in ideal conditions. The waxing crescent moon will set in the early evening of 8 October so shouldn't interfere with viewing conditions. In rare instances, fiery Draco has been known to spew forth many hundreds of meteors in a single hour!
Although visible across the sky, facing towards the radiant in Draco will make meteor hunting easier. The Draconids have a very high radiant point in the northern sky (the radiant is the point in the night sky where the meteors look like they are appearing from). So when looking for the meteor shower you may want to look in the evening hours before and around midnight rather than the early morning hours after which Draco will appear closer to the horizon.
To make the most out of your viewing you want to go to a place with little to no light pollution (a unique challenge in this day and age). To find your nearest dark sky site we recommend you use Go Stargazing. It’s a great resource that allows you to find dark places in the UK that are perfect for viewing the night sky. Also, be sure to check the weather and bring proper clothing. If there’s heavy cloud cover, you aren’t going be able to see much of the stars. Also make sure you are comfortable with snacks, blankets, and chairs because you might end up sitting / standing for a while!
Finally try to give your eyes a break from screens and artificial lights. This will let your eyes adjust to the darkness and you will be able to see more. Head out from 6 – 10 October for your chance to see the beautiful Draconids this year. And if you want to learn about up and coming meteor showers than see below.
Meteor Infographic
Download our National Space Centre Meteor Shower Guide to make sure you are fully prepared!
Other upcoming meteor showers for 2024 include:
Orionids
Comet of Origin: 1P/Halley
Radiant: constellation Orion
Peak Activity: 21-22 October 2024
Peak Activity Meteor Count: up to 20 meteors per hour
Northern Taurids
Comet of Origin: 2P/Encke
Radiant: constellation Taurus
Peak Activity: 11-12 November 2024
Peak Activity Meteor Count: 5 meteors per hour
Leonids
Comet of Origin: 55P/Tempel-Tuttle
Radiant: constellation Leo
Peak Activity: 16-17 November 2024
Peak Activity Meteor Count: up to 10 meteors per hour
Geminids
Asteroid of Origin: 3200 Phaethon
Radiant: constellation Gemini
Peak Activity: 13-14 December 2024
Peak Activity Meteor Count: up to 150 meteors per hour
Ursids
Comet of Origin: 8P/Tuttle
Radiant: constellation Ursa Minor
Peak Activity: 21-22 December 2024
Peak Activity Meteor Count: up to 10 meteors per hour
Happy meteor-gazing!
Full references / credits:
(Banner image) Meteor showers. Credit: © National Space Centre
(1a) Meteor shower alert. Credit: © National Space Centre
(1b) 2018 Draconid meteor shower. Credit: Mike Lewinski (CC BY 2.0) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/ikewinski/31334547678/in/photostream/)
(2) Radiant of Draconid meteor shower. Credit: Stellarium
(3) Meteors infographic. Credit: © National Space Centre
