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 March 2016, there are 95 known meteor showers.[1]
Table of meteor showers
Note: Dates are accurate for 2017.[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 2017) |
Peak (as of 2017) |
Celestial longitude |
RA | Dec | Speed (km/s) |
ZHR | rating | parent body[3] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Antihelion Source | 10 Dec – 10 Sep | multiple | varies | varies | 30 | 4 | medium | ||
Quadrantids | 28 Dec – 12 Jan | 3 Jan | 283.15 | 15.3 | +49 | 41 | 120 | bright | 2003 EH1 ? |
Gamma Ursae Minorids | 15 Jan – 25 Jan | 20 Jan | 299 | 15.2 | +67 | 31 | 3 | medium | |
Alpha Centaurids | 28 Jan – 21 Feb | 8 Feb | 319.2 | 14.0 | −59 | 56 | 6 | bright | |
Gamma Normids | 25 Feb – 28 Mar | 14 Mar | 354 | 15.9 | −50 | 56 | 6 | bright | |
Lyrids | 16 Apr – 25 Apr | 22 Apr | 32.32 | 18.1 | +34 | 49 | 18 | bright | C/1861 G1 (Thatcher) |
Pi Puppids | 15 Apr – 28 Apr | 23 Apr | 33.5 | 7.3 | −45 | 18 | variable | bright | 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup |
Eta Aquariids | 19 Apr – 28 May | 6 May | 45.5 | 22.5 | −1 | 66 | 50 | bright | 1P/Halley |
Eta Lyrids | 3 May – 14 May | 9 May | 48 | 19.1 | +44 | 43 | 3 | medium | |
Daytime Arietids | 14 May – 24 Jun | 7 Jun | 76.6 | 2.9 | +24 | 38 | 50 | medium | 1566 Icarus ? |
June Bootids | 22 Jun – 2 Jul | 27 Jun | 95.7 | 14.9 | +48 | 18 | variable | bright | |
Piscis Austrinids | 15 Jul – 10 Aug | 28 Jul | 125 | 22.7 | −30 | 35 | 5 | faint | |
Southern Delta Aquariids | 12 Jul – 23 Aug | 30 Jul | 127 | 22.7 | −16 | 41 | 25 | bright | |
Alpha Capricornids | 3 Jul – 15 Aug | 30 Jul | 127 | 20.5 | −10 | 23 | 5 | bright | |
Perseids | 17 Jul – 24 Aug | 12 Aug | 140.0 | 3.2 | +58 | 59 | 150 | bright | 109P/Swift-Tuttle |
Kappa Cygnids | 3 Aug – 25 Aug | 17 Aug | 145 | 19.1 | +59 | 25 | 3 | medium | |
Aurigids | 28 Aug – 5 Sep | 1 Sep | 158.6 | 6.1 | +39 | 66 | 6 | bright | |
September Epsilon Perseids | 5 Sep – 21 Sep | 9 Sep | 166.7 | 3.2 | +40 | 64 | 5 | medium | |
Daytime Sextantids | 9 Sep – 9 Oct | 27 Sep | 184.3 | 10.1 | 0 | 32 | 5 | bright | |
Draconids | 6 Oct – 10 Oct | 8 Oct | 195.4 | 17.5 | +54 | 20 | variable | medium | 21P/Giacobini-Zinner |
Southern Taurids | 10 Sep – 20 Nov | 10 Oct | 197 | 2.1 | +9 | 27 | 5 | bright | Comet Encke |
Delta Aurigids | 10 Oct – 18 Oct | 11 Oct | 198 | 5.6 | +44 | 64 | 2 | medium | |
Epsilon Geminids | 14 Oct – 27 Oct | 18 Oct | 205 | 6.8 | +27 | 70 | 3 | medium | C/1964 N1 (Ikeya) |
Orionids | 2 Oct – 7 Nov | 21 Oct | 208 | 6.3 | +16 | 66 | 15 | bright | 1P/Halley |
Leonis Minorids | 19 Oct – 27 Oct | 24 Oct | 211 | 10.8 | +37 | 62 | 2 | medium | |
Northern Taurids | 20 Oct – 10 Dec | 12 Nov | 230 | 3.9 | +22 | 29 | 5 | bright | Comet Encke |
Leonids | 6 Nov – 30 Nov | 17 Nov | 235.27 | 10.1 | +22 | 71 | 15 | bright | 55P/Tempel–Tuttle |
Alpha Monocerotids | 15 Nov – 25 Nov | 21 Nov | 239.32 | 7.8 | +1 | 65 | variable | bright | |
November Orionids | 13 Nov – 6 Dec | 28 Nov | 246 | 6.1 | +16 | 44 | 3 | medium | |
Phoenicids | 28 Nov – 9 Dec | 2 Dec | 250.0 | 1.2 | −53 | 18 | variable | medium | 289P/Blanpain |
Puppid-Velids | 1 Dec – 15 Dec | multiple | 255 | 8.2 | −45 | 40 | 10 | medium | |
Monocerotids | 5 Dec – 20 Dec | 8 Dec | 257 | 6.7 | +8 | 41 | 2 | medium | C/1917 F1 (Mellish) |
Sigma Hydrids | 3 Dec – 15 Dec | 11 Dec | 260 | 8.5 | +2 | 58 | 3 | medium | |
Geminids | 4 Dec – 17 Dec | 14 Dec | 262.2 | 7.5 | +33 | 35 | 120 | medium | 3200 Phaethon |
Comae Berenicids | 12 Dec – 23 Dec | 16 Dec | 264 | 11.7 | +18 | 65 | 3 | medium | |
Dec. Leonis Minorids | 5 Dec – 4 Feb | 20 Dec | 268 | 10.7 | +30 | 64 | 5 | medium | |
Ursids | 17 Dec – 26 Dec | 22 Dec | 270.7 | 14.5 | +76 | 33 | 10 | medium | 8P/Tuttle |
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
- ↑ The established meteor showers as observed by CAMS Icarus, Volume 266, 1 March 2016, Pages 331-354.
- ↑ "2017 Meteor Shower Calendar" (PDF). International Meteor Organization.
- ↑ "Meteor Streams". NASA.
Further reading
- Gary W. Kronk (2014). Meteor showers: an annotated catalog (2nd ed.). Springer. ISBN 1461478960.