Major Meteor Showers

Major Meteor Showers

Meteor showers are very easy to observe, especially if they occur on a clear night with little interference from the Moon. Amateur astronomers can keep track of the number of meteors that they observe and contribute to official estimates of the peak number of meteors and the time at which the shower peaks.

Meteor Shower

Dates

Peak

Peak Rate

Constellation

Parent Body

Quadrantids	December 28 to January 7	January 3 and 4	45 to 200	Boötes	unknown
Lyrids	April 16 to 25	April 20 and 21	10 to 100	Lyra	Comet Thatcher
Eta Aquarids	April 21 to May 12	May 5th	20 to 50	Aquarius	Halley's Comet
Southern Delta Aquarids	July 14 to August 18	July 29th	15 to 20	Aquarius	unknown
Alpha Capricornids	July 15 to September 11	August 1st	6 to 14	Capricornus	unknown
Southern Iota Aquarids	July 1 to September 18	August 6th	7 to 8	Aquarius	unknown
Northern Iota Aquarids	August 11 to September 10	August 25th	5 to 10	Aquarius	unknown
Perseids	July 23 to August 22	August 12 and 13	80 to 200	Perseus	Comet Swift-Tuttle
Orionids	October 15 to 29	October 21 and 22	20	Orion	Halley's Comet
Leonids	November 14 to 20	November 17th	10 to 5000	Leo	Comet Temple-Tuttle
Geminids	December 6 to 19	December 13 and 14	80	Gemini	Asteroid 3200 Phaethon