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 Source10 Dec – 10 Sep multiplevariesvaries304medium
Quadrantids28 Dec – 12 Jan3 Jan283.1515.3+4941120bright2003 EH1 ?
Gamma Ursae Minorids15 Jan – 25 Jan20 Jan29915.2+67313medium
Alpha Centaurids28 Jan – 21 Feb8 Feb319.214.0−59566bright
Gamma Normids25 Feb – 28 Mar14 Mar35415.9−50566bright
Lyrids16 Apr – 25 Apr22 Apr32.3218.1+344918brightC/1861 G1 (Thatcher)
Pi Puppids15 Apr – 28 Apr23 Apr33.57.3−4518variablebright26P/Grigg-Skjellerup
Eta Aquariids19 Apr – 28 May6 May45.522.5−16650bright1P/Halley
Eta Lyrids3 May – 14 May9 May4819.1+44433medium
Daytime Arietids14 May – 24 Jun7 Jun76.62.9+243850medium1566 Icarus ?
June Bootids22 Jun – 2 Jul27 Jun95.714.9+4818variablebright
Piscis Austrinids15 Jul – 10 Aug28 Jul12522.7−30355faint
Southern Delta Aquariids12 Jul – 23 Aug30 Jul12722.7−164125bright
Alpha Capricornids3 Jul – 15 Aug30 Jul12720.5−10235bright
Perseids17 Jul – 24 Aug12 Aug140.03.2+5859150bright109P/Swift-Tuttle
Kappa Cygnids3 Aug – 25 Aug17 Aug14519.1+59253medium
Aurigids28 Aug – 5 Sep1 Sep158.66.1+39666bright
September Epsilon Perseids5 Sep – 21 Sep9 Sep166.73.2+40645medium
Daytime Sextantids9 Sep – 9 Oct27 Sep184.310.10325bright
Draconids6 Oct – 10 Oct8 Oct195.417.5+5420variablemedium21P/Giacobini-Zinner
Southern Taurids10 Sep – 20 Nov10 Oct1972.1+9275brightComet Encke
Delta Aurigids10 Oct – 18 Oct11 Oct1985.6+44642medium
Epsilon Geminids14 Oct – 27 Oct18 Oct2056.8+27703mediumC/1964 N1 (Ikeya)
Orionids2 Oct – 7 Nov21 Oct2086.3+166615bright1P/Halley
Leonis Minorids19 Oct – 27 Oct24 Oct21110.8+37622medium
Northern Taurids20 Oct – 10 Dec12 Nov2303.9+22295brightComet Encke
Leonids6 Nov – 30 Nov17 Nov235.2710.1+227115bright55P/Tempel–Tuttle
Alpha Monocerotids15 Nov – 25 Nov21 Nov239.327.8+165variablebright
November Orionids13 Nov – 6 Dec28 Nov2466.1+16443medium
Phoenicids28 Nov – 9 Dec2 Dec250.01.2−5318variablemedium289P/Blanpain
Puppid-Velids1 Dec – 15 Dec multiple2558.2−454010medium
Monocerotids5 Dec – 20 Dec8 Dec2576.7+8412mediumC/1917 F1 (Mellish)
Sigma Hydrids3 Dec – 15 Dec11 Dec2608.5+2583medium
Geminids4 Dec – 17 Dec14 Dec262.27.5+3335120medium3200 Phaethon
Comae Berenicids12 Dec – 23 Dec16 Dec26411.7+18653medium
Dec. Leonis Minorids5 Dec – 4 Feb20 Dec26810.7+30645medium
Ursids17 Dec – 26 Dec22 Dec270.714.5+763310medium8P/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

  1. The established meteor showers as observed by CAMS Icarus, Volume 266, 1 March 2016, Pages 331-354.
  2. "2017 Meteor Shower Calendar" (PDF). International Meteor Organization.
  3. "Meteor Streams". NASA.

Further reading

  • Gary W. Kronk (2014). Meteor showers: an annotated catalog (2nd ed.). Springer. ISBN 1461478960.
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