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List of meteor showers

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Named meteor showers recur at approximately the same dates each year. They appear to radiate from a certain point in the sky, known as 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

Dates are given for 2022.[2][3] The dates will vary from year to year due to the leap year cycle. 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 2022)
Peak
(as of 2022)
Celestial longitude
RA
(hours)
Dec
(degrees)
Speed
(km/s)
ZHR rating parent body[4]
Antihelion Source 10 Dec – 10 Sep multiple varies varies 30 4 medium N/A (various comets)
Quadrantids 28 Dec – 12 Jan 3 Jan 283.15 15.3 +49 41 110 bright (196256) 2003 EH1 ?
Gamma Ursae Minorids 10 Jan – 22 Jan 18 Jan 298 15.2 +67 31 3 medium undiscovered (short period)
Alpha Centaurids 31 Jan – 20 Feb 8 Feb 319.2 14.0 −59 58 6 bright undiscovered
Gamma Normids 25 Feb – 28 Mar 14 Mar 354 15.9 −50 56 6 bright possibly C/1864 R1 (Donati)
or C/1893 U1 (Brooks)
Lyrids 14 Apr – 30 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 10 May 50.0 19.1 +43 43 3 medium C/1983 H1 (IRAS-Araki-Alcock)
Tau Herculids 19 May – 14 Jun 31 May 69.45 14 +28 16 variable medium 73P/Schwassmann–Wachmann
Daytime Arietids 14 May – 24 Jun 7 Jun 76.6 2.9 +24 38 30 medium 1566 Icarus ?
June Bootids 22 Jun – 2 Jul 27 Jun 95.7 14.9 +48 18 variable bright 7P/Pons-Winnecke
July Pegasids 4 Jul – 14 Jul 10 Jul 107.5 23.1 +15 61 5 bright C/1979 Y1 (Bradfield)
Piscis Austrinids 15 Jul – 10 Aug 28 Jul 125 22.7 −30 35 5 faint undiscovered (short period,
probably disintegrated)
Southern Delta Aquariids 12 Jul – 23 Aug 30 Jul 127 22.7 −16 41 25 bright P/2008 Y12 (SOHO)
Alpha Capricornids 3 Jul – 15 Aug 30 Jul 127 20.5 −10 23 5 bright 169P/NEAT
Perseids 17 Jul – 24 Aug 13 Aug 140.0 3.2 +58 59 100 bright 109P/Swift-Tuttle
Kappa Cygnids 3 Aug – 25 Aug 18 Aug 145 19.1 +59 25 3 medium undiscovered (possibly
related to 2002 GJ8)
Aurigids 28 Aug – 5 Sep 1 Sep 158.6 6.1 +39 66 6 bright C/1911 N1 (Kiess)
September Epsilon Perseids 5 Sep – 21 Sep 9 Sep 166.7 3.2 +40 64 5 medium undiscovered (moderate period)
Daytime Sextantids 9 Sep – 9 Oct 27 Sep 184.3 10.1 0 32 5 bright (155140) 2005 UD
October Camelopardalids 5 Oct – 6 Oct 6 Oct 192.58 10.9 +79 47 5 bright undiscovered (long period)
Draconids 6 Oct – 10 Oct 9 Oct 195.4 17.5 +54 20 10 medium 21P/Giacobini-Zinner
Southern Taurids 10 Sep – 20 Nov 10 Oct 197 2.1 +9 27 5 bright 2P/Encke
Delta Aurigids 10 Oct – 18 Oct 11 Oct 198 5.6 +44 64 2 medium undiscovered (moderate period)
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 20 bright 1P/Halley
Leonis Minorids 19 Oct – 27 Oct 24 Oct 211 10.8 +37 62 2 medium C/1739 K1
Northern Taurids 20 Oct – 10 Dec 12 Nov 230 3.9 +22 29 5 bright 2004 TG10
Leonids 6 Nov – 30 Nov 17 Nov 235.27 10.1 +22 71 10 bright 55P/Tempel–Tuttle
Alpha Monocerotids 15 Nov – 25 Nov 21 Nov 239.32 7.8 +1 65 variable bright undiscovered (long period)
November Orionids 13 Nov – 6 Dec 28 Nov 246 6.1 +16 44 3 medium undiscovered (moderate period,
probably disintegrated)
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 undiscovered
Monocerotids 5 Dec – 20 Dec 9 Dec 257 6.7 +8 41 3 medium C/1917 F1 (Mellish)
Sigma Hydrids 3 Dec – 20 Dec 9 Dec 257 8.3 +2 58 7 medium undiscovered (moderate period)
Geminids 4 Dec – 20 Dec 14 Dec 262.2 7.5 +33 35 150 medium 3200 Phaethon
Comae Berenicids 12 Dec – 23 Dec 16 Dec 264 11.7 +18 65 3 medium undiscovered (moderate period)
December 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

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.

References


Further reading