List of meteor showers

Named meteor showers recur at approximately the same dates each year. They appear to "radiate" from a certain point in the sky (the radiant) and vary in the speed, frequency and brightness of the meteors. As of November 2019, there are 112 established meteor showers.[1]

Table of meteor showers

Note: Dates are accurate for 2021.[2] The dates will 'move' based upon the year in the Leap year cycle. Also, this list includes showers with radiants in both the northern and southern hemispheres. There is some overlap, but generally showers whose radiants have positive declinations are best seen from the northern hemisphere, and those with negative declinations are best observed from the southern hemisphere.

Name Dates
(as of 2021)
Peak
(as of 2021)
Celestial longitude
RA Dec Speed
(km/s)
ZHR rating parent body[3]
Antihelion Source10 Dec – 10 Sep multiplevariesvaries304mediumN/A (various comets)
Quadrantids28 Dec – 12 Jan3 Jan283.1515.3+4941110bright(196256) 2003 EH1 ?
Gamma Ursae Minorids10 Jan – 22 Jan19 Jan29815.2+67313mediumundiscovered (short period)
Alpha Centaurids31 Jan – 20 Feb8 Feb319.214.0−59586brightundiscovered
Gamma Normids25 Feb – 28 Mar14 Mar35415.9−50566brightpossibly C/1864 R1 (Donati)
or C/1893 U1 (Brooks)
Lyrids14 Apr – 30 Apr22 Apr32.3218.1+344918brightC/1861 G1 (Thatcher)
Pi Puppids15 Apr – 28 Apr23 Apr33.57.3−4518variablebright26P/Grigg-Skjellerup
Eta Aquariids19 Apr – 28 May5 May45.522.5−16650bright1P/Halley
Eta Lyrids3 May – 14 May8 May4819.1+44433mediumC/1983 H1 (IRAS-Araki-Alcock)
Daytime Arietids14 May – 24 Jun7 Jun76.62.9+243830medium1566 Icarus ?
June Bootids22 Jun – 2 Jul27 Jun95.714.9+4818variablebright7P/Pons-Winnecke
Piscis Austrinids15 Jul – 10 Aug29 Jul12522.7−30355faintundiscovered (short period,
probably disintegrated)
Southern Delta Aquariids12 Jul – 23 Aug30 Jul12722.7−164125brightP/2008 Y12 (SOHO)
Alpha Capricornids3 Jul – 15 Aug30 Jul12720.5−10235bright169P/NEAT
Perseids17 Jul – 24 Aug12 Aug140.03.2+5859100bright109P/Swift-Tuttle
Kappa Cygnids3 Aug – 25 Aug17 Aug14519.1+59253mediumundiscovered (possibly
related to 2002 GJ8)
Aurigids28 Aug – 5 Sep1 Sep158.66.1+39666brightC/1911 N1 (Kiess)
September Epsilon Perseids5 Sep – 21 Sep9 Sep166.73.2+40645mediumundiscovered (moderate period)
Daytime Sextantids9 Sep – 9 Oct27 Sep184.310.10325bright(155140) 2005 UD
October Camelopardalids5 Oct – 6 Oct5 Oct192.5810.9+79475brightundiscovered (long period)
Draconids6 Oct – 10 Oct8 Oct195.417.5+542010medium21P/Giacobini-Zinner
Southern Taurids10 Sep – 20 Nov10 Oct1972.1+9275bright2P/Encke
Delta Aurigids10 Oct – 18 Oct11 Oct1985.6+44642mediumundiscovered (moderate period)
Epsilon Geminids14 Oct – 27 Oct18 Oct2056.8+27703mediumC/1964 N1 (Ikeya)
Orionids2 Oct – 7 Nov21 Oct2086.3+166620bright1P/Halley
Leonis Minorids19 Oct – 27 Oct24 Oct21110.8+37622mediumC/1739 K1
Northern Taurids20 Oct – 10 Dec12 Nov2303.9+22295bright2004 TG10
Leonids6 Nov – 30 Nov17 Nov235.2710.1+227110bright55P/Tempel–Tuttle
Alpha Monocerotids15 Nov – 25 Nov21 Nov239.327.8+165variablebrightundiscovered (long period)
November Orionids13 Nov – 6 Dec28 Nov2466.1+16443mediumundiscovered (moderate period,
probably disintegrated)
Phoenicids28 Nov – 9 Dec2 Dec250.01.2−5318variablemedium289P/Blanpain
Puppid-Velids1 Dec – 15 Dec multiple2558.2−454010mediumundiscovered
Monocerotids5 Dec – 20 Dec9 Dec2576.7+8413mediumC/1917 F1 (Mellish)
Sigma Hydrids3 Dec – 20 Dec9 Dec2578.3+2587mediumundiscovered (moderate period)
Geminids4 Dec – 20 Dec14 Dec262.27.5+3335150medium3200 Phaethon
Comae Berenicids12 Dec – 23 Dec16 Dec26411.7+18653mediumundiscovered (moderate period)
December Leonis Minorids5 Dec – 4 Feb19 Dec26810.7+30645medium
Ursids17 Dec – 26 Dec22 Dec270.714.5+763310medium8P/Tuttle

See also

Sources

This list of meteor streams and peak activity times is based on data from the International Meteor Organization while most of the parent body associations are from Gary W. Kronk book, Meteor Showers: A Descriptive Catalog, Enslow Publishers, New Jersey, ISBN 0-89490-071-4, and from Peter Jenniskens's book, "Meteor Showers and Their Parent Comets", Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK, ISBN 9780521853491.

Footnotes

  1. Meteor Data Centre, IAU
  2. "2021 Meteor Shower Calendar" (PDF). International Meteor Organization.
  3. "Meteor Streams". NASA.

Further reading

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