Missed out on the Perseids? Here are 2025’s other meteor showers worth watching
The next meteor shower of 2025 is the Draconids, but conditions aren’t favorable. There are six similar showers expected during the coming months.
If you missed the recent Alpha Capricornids and Southern Delta Aquariids meteor showers, don’t fret, as there are still a few other celestial events lined up before the year is out.
August’s Perseids are one of the best meteor showers to observe as they usually are the most visible. The Perseids are meteors, pieces of space debris from the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, which was discovered in July 1862.
The next meteor shower of 2025 is the Draconids, given an estimated zenithal hourly rate(ZHR) of up to 10 meteors per hour and will peak after sunset on October 8. The only problem is that the moon will almost be at its fullest that night which will make the meteor trail difficult to see.
The Draconids is a trail of ice and rocky debris left by Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner. It orbits the sun every 6.6 years and will approach Earth on October 8-9.
Not as spectacular as the Perseids, recent Draconids meteor showers have been relatively low-key. The most spectacular outbursts were recorded in 1985, 1998 and 2011.
What meteor shower graces our skies in October?
— Museum of Science (@museumofscience) September 18, 2024
The Draconids are known to be unpredictable - sometimes they produce just 10 meteors per hour, and sometimes they produce a meteor storm!#MeteorShower #Astronomy #SolarSystem #Space pic.twitter.com/p3c03kEAPv
When is the next meteor shower of 2025?
Even if the Draconids are a letdown again this year, there are other meteor showers to look out for. Excellent conditions are expected for the Orionids, which promise a shower of fast-moving comets with long tails blazing through the night sky, and will be visible on October 21–22 from 1 a.m. until dawn.
The Taurids follow on November 4–5 and 11–12, with a new moon making viewing conditions ideal.
2025 meteor showers
- October 8–9 Draconids (after sunset)
- October 21–22 Orionids (1 a.m.–dawn)
- November 4–5 & 11–12 Taurids (all night)
- November 17–18 Leonids (after midnight)
- December 13–14 Geminids (10 p.m.–dawn
- December 22–23 Ursids (after midnight)
It’s not looking as hopeful for the Leonids and Geminids but the last meteor shower of 2025, the Ursids, due after midnight on December 22–23 should be visible in the northern hemisphere as the moon will be waning.
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