2026 Meteor Shower

Meteor showers are great showy celestial events where a number of meteors descend or radiate from a single point in the sky. It is found that meteors entering the Earth's atmosphere spew streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids that travel on parallel paths and at high speeds. They are also called as shooting stars or falling stars by layman.

Most of them of very tiny pieces that they disintegrate during the journey and are gone before they enter the earth.



Some of the notable meteor showers are the Perseids, and the Leonids. The Perseids are visible all through the year and peak during mid-August. The Leonids are called the King of Meteor showers and peak around mid-November. Scan the north sky to view the Leonids. Driving south may lead you to darker skies, but the glow will dominate the northern horizons. Perseid meteors would be seen as a rain in the north east direction and can be viewed around midnight during mid-August.

The visiting meteors are visible when they are around 60 miles of 96.5 kms up. Meteors travel at a speed of about 30,000 mph or 48,280 kph and can reach temperatures of about 3000 Fahrenheit or 1648 degrees Celsius.

Escape the city glow, find a dark, secluded spot where vehicle headlights will not periodically ruin your night vision. Look for parks or other safe, dark sites to view these meteor showers. The meteor showers listed here are the easiest to observe and provide the most activity. Particular attention should be noted to the time and moonlight conditions. All these showers are best seen after midnight. Some are not even visible until after midnight. While the time each shower is best seen remains much the same year after year, the moonlight conditions change considerably from one year to the next.

Date
Meteor Event
Description
3-4 Jan 2026
Quadrantid meteor shower 2026
Quadrantid meteor shower will be peaked on 3rd and 4th January but it will be visible on 1-5 January 2023. One can see upto 40 meteors per hour during peak. Meteors seems to radiate from the constellation Bootes, close to the North Star. In 1932, the Quadrantid meteor shower showed maximum activity with 80 meteors per hour.
20th Mar 2026
March Equinox
The length of day and night is equal on March Equinox. This will happen at UTC 21:58.
21-22 Apr 2026
Lyrid meteor shower
Lyrid is a medium intensity meteor shower. It usually produces about 20 meteors per hour in its peak. The shower will peak on 21-22 April but some meteors will be visible between 16 to 25th April. Meteors seems to radiate from the constellation Lyra.
5-6 May 2026
Eta Aquarid meteor shower
Eta Aquarid is a low intensity meteor shower. It usually produces about 10 meteors per hour in its peak. The shower will peak on 5-6 May. Meteors seems to radiate from the constellation Aquarius.
21st Jun 2026
June Solstice
The North Pole tilts towards Sun causing summer at Northern hemisphere.
12-13th Aug 2026
Perseid meteor shower
Perseids are one of the strong meteor showers. It produce up to 60 meteors per hour at peak hours. Radiant point of this shower is in the constellation Perseus. These meteors originate from the tail of comet Swift-Tuttle.
23rd Sep 2026
September Equinox
Earth experience day and night of equal length.
21-22 Oct 2026
Orionid meteor shower
Orionid is a medium intensity meteor shower and one can see about 25 meteors per hour.
17-18th Nov 2026
Leonids meteor shower
Annual event of Leonid meteor shower can be seen on 16-17th November. Leonid meteor shower is visible towards the constellation Leo, the Lion. During Leonid meteor shower, Earth will pass through a stream of debris which is left behind by comet Tempel-Tuttle.
13-14th Dec 2026
Geminids meteor shower
Geminids meteor shower is a strong meteor shower. Annual event of Geminids meteor shower take place on 13-14th December but some meteors will be visible between 6 to 19th December. For many observers, geminid is the best meteor shower. It can produce 60-80 meteors per hour at its peak.
22 Dec 2026
December Solstice
The shortest day and longest night of the year.
22-23 Dec 2026
Ursids meteor shower
Ursids meteor shower is a medium intensity meteor shower. Ursids meteor shower peaks on 22-23 December. It usually produces 5-10 meteors per hour but occasionally it can produce about 100 meteors per hour.

Meteor Shower Calendar

Date
Meteor Shower
Rate/Hr
Peak
Direction
Constelation
Parent Comet
03-Jan-2026
Quadrantids
120
18h46
-
Bootes
Asteroid 2003 EH 1
08-Feb-2026
alpha Centaurids
7
14h39
SE
Centaurus
15-Mar-2026
eta Virginids
2
00h38
E
Virgo
Comet D/1766 G1 (Helfenz
rieder)
05-Apr-2026
kappa Serpentids
4
22h30
NE
Corona Borealis
22-Apr-2026
Lyrids
18
23h34
NNE
Lyra
Comet C / 1861 G1 Thatcher
23-Apr-2026
pi Puppids
20
20h29
SW
Puppis
Comet 26P Grigg-Skjellerup
06-May-2026
eta Aquariids
40
11h06
E
Aquarius
Comet 1P Halley
10-May-2026
eta Lyrids
7
04h14
NNE
Lyra
Comet C / 1983 H1 (IRAS-Araki-Alcock)
28-Jun-2026
Bootids
10
10h09
-
Bootes
Comet 7P Pons-Winnecke
30-Jul-2026
South. delta Aquariids
16
14h25
E
Aquarius
30-Jul-2026
alpha Capricornids
4
14h25
E
Capricornus
Comet 45P Honda-Mrkos-Pajdus -
akova
04-Aug-2026
South. delta Aquariids
2
12h19
E
Aquarius
13-Aug-2026
Perseids
150
04h08
-
Perseus
Comet 109P Swift-Tuttle
18-Aug-2026
kappa Cygnids
3
14h02
-
Cygnus
01-Sep-2026
alpha Aurigids
10
01h33
-
Auriga
Comet C / 1911 N1 Kiess
03-Oct-2026
Capricornids
2
08h36
E
Capricornus
Comet D / 1978 R1 (Haneda-Campos)
06-Oct-2026
Camelopardalids
40
06h31
-
Chamaeleon
09-Oct-2026
Draconids
10
03h22
-
Draco
Comet 21P Giacobini-Zinner
21-Oct-2026
Orionids
15
20h30
NE
Orion
Comet 1P Halley
06-Nov-2026
Northern Taurids
4
20h54
NE
Taurus
Asteroid 2004 TG10
6-Nov-2026
Southern Taurids
7
20h54
NE
Taurus
Comet 2P Encke
18-Nov-2026
Leonids
15
06h06
NE
Leo
Commet 55P / Tempel-Tuttle
22-Nov-2026
alpha Monocerotids
4
02h08
ENE
Monoceros
14-Dec-2026
Geminids
120
11h47
NNE
Gemini
Asteroid 3200 Phaethon
23-Dec-2026
Ursids
10
07h12
-
Ursa Minor
Comet 8P Tuttle
25-Dec-2026
Comae Berenicids
5
05h53
NE
Coma Berenicis

Quadrantids 2026: The Quadrantids are an easily visible January meteor shower. The entire activity period of the Quadrantids runs from January 1 to 5, 2026. The radiant of this shower is an area inside the constellation Bootes.

Peak of Quadrantid meteor shower: The maximum of the Quadrantid activity in 4 is expected during the night of the 3rd January 2026. The Quadrantids are an easily visible January meteor shower. The peak intensity is exceedingly sharp: the meteor rates exceed one-half of their highest value for only about 8 hours .

Perseids 2026: From July 17 to August 24 in 2026 the Perseids light up the night sky. That is the name of a popular meteor shower which comes back every year during the first half of August. The peak of the Perseids is on August 12. At that night one can see extra high amount of shooting stars.

Peak of Perseid meteor shower: Perseids are one of the strong meteor showers. It produce up to 60 meteors per hour at peak hours. Radiant point of this shower is in the constellation Perseus. These meteors originate from the tail of comet Swift-Tuttle.

Peak of Perseid meteor shower: The maximum of the Perseid activity in 2026 is expected during the night of the 12th August 2026. The Perseids is the name of a prolific meteor shower. The shower is visible from mid-July each year, with the peak in activity being between August 9 and 14, depending on the particular location of the stream.

Leonids 2026: The Leonids are a meteor shower associated with the comet Tempel-Tuttle, which is visible between the 14th and 21st of November 2026. The Leonids get their name from the location of their radiant in the constellation Leo: the meteors appear to radiate from that point in the sky. The Leonids tend to peak in November.

Related Links


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