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Meteor showers: the next shooting stars
Next shower
Leonids
Peak on the night of 17–18 November 2026, around 23:00 UK time · up to 15 meteors an hour · Moon 55 % illuminated: fair conditions.
Next major shower: the Geminids, night of 14–15 December 2026 (up to 150 an hour, Moon 25 %).
Calendar for the next twelve months
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Leonids
Fair conditions
Peak night of 17–18 November 2026 · around 23:00 UK time
- Meteors per hour
- up to 15
- Moon at peak
- 55 %
- Active
- 6 November to 30 November
- Where
- mainly the northern hemisphere
Debris from comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle.
-
Geminids
Fair conditions
Peak night of 14–15 December 2026 · around 13:00 UK time
- Meteors per hour
- up to 150
- Moon at peak
- 25 %
- Active
- 4 December to 20 December
- Where
- mainly the northern hemisphere
Debris from asteroid 3200 Phaethon.
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Ursids
Poor conditions
Peak night of 22–23 December 2026 · around 22:00 UK time
- Meteors per hour
- up to 10
- Moon at peak
- 98 %
- Active
- 17 December to 26 December
- Where
- mainly the northern hemisphere
Debris from comet 8P/Tuttle.
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Quadrantids
Good conditions
Peak night of 3–4 January 2027 · around 03:00 UK time
- Meteors per hour
- up to 80
- Moon at peak
- 12 %
- Active
- 28 December to 12 January
- Where
- mainly the northern hemisphere
Debris from asteroid 2003 EH1.
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Lyrids
Poor conditions
Peak night of 22–23 April 2027 · around 02:00 UK time
- Meteors per hour
- up to 18
- Moon at peak
- 95 %
- Active
- 14 April to 30 April
- Where
- mainly the northern hemisphere
Debris from comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher.
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Eta Aquariids
Good conditions
Peak night of 6–7 May 2027 · around 16:00 UK time
- Meteors per hour
- up to 50
- Moon at peak
- 0 %
- Active
- 19 April to 28 May
- Where
- both hemispheres
Debris from Halley’s Comet.
-
Southern Delta Aquariids
Good conditions
Peak night of 31 July–1 August 2027 · around 20:00 UK time
- Meteors per hour
- up to 25
- Moon at peak
- 4 %
- Active
- 12 July to 23 August
- Where
- mainly the southern hemisphere
Debris from comet 96P/Machholz.
-
Perseids
Poor conditions
Peak night of 12–13 August 2027 · around 09:00 UK time
- Meteors per hour
- up to 110
- Moon at peak
- 87 %
- Active
- 17 July to 24 August
- Where
- mainly the northern hemisphere
Debris from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle.
-
Draconids
Poor conditions
Peak night of 8–9 October 2027 · around 08:00 UK time
- Meteors per hour
- up to 5 (variable)
- Moon at peak
- 67 %
- Active
- 6 October to 10 October
- Where
- mainly the northern hemisphere
Debris from comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner.
-
Orionids
Fair conditions
Peak night of 21–22 October 2027 · around 01:00 UK time
- Meteors per hour
- up to 20
- Moon at peak
- 58 %
- Active
- 2 October to 7 November
- Where
- both hemispheres
Debris from Halley’s Comet.
“Meteors per hour”: the zenithal hourly rate (ZHR), the number you would see under a perfectly dark sky with the radiant overhead; in practice you usually see two to three times fewer. Peaks worked out from the solar longitude given by the IMO, to the hour.
How to watch meteor showers
- Away from lights: light pollution in a city washes out most meteors. Switch off screens and let your eyes adjust to the dark for 20 minutes.
- No instruments: binoculars and telescopes are useless, their field of view is too narrow. Lie back on a deckchair and watch a large part of the sky, not necessarily towards the radiant.
- Rather late at night: for most showers, meteors are more numerous after midnight, when our side of the Earth faces the direction it is moving in. The Geminids are an exception, good from 22:00.
- Check the Moon: a bright Moon hides the faintest meteors. The calendar gives its illuminated share at the peak.
- Several nights: a shower stays active for days, sometimes weeks; there are still good meteors the night before and after the peak.
Where do they come from?
A shooting star is a grain of dust, often smaller than a grain of sand, entering the atmosphere at several tens of kilometres a second and burning up. Showers come back every year on the same dates because the Earth then crosses the dust left behind by a comet or an asteroid: Halley’s Comet for the Eta Aquariids and the Orionids, comet Swift-Tuttle for the Perseids, asteroid Phaethon for the Geminids.
For sunset and moonrise times where you are, open your city’s page. See also the moon phases and eclipses.
Source: International Meteor Organization (IMO), Meteor Shower Calendar.