List of meteor showers

Last updated

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 January 2024, there are 110 established meteor showers. [1]

Contents

Table of meteor showers

Dates are given for 2024. [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.

NameDates
(as of 2024)
Peak
(as of 2025)
Solar longitude
°)
RA
(hours)
Dec
(degrees)
Ventry
(km/s)
ZHR RatingParent body [4]
Antihelion Source10 Dec – 20 Sepvariesvaries304mediumN/A (various comets)
Quadrantids 28 Dec – 12 Jan3 Jan283.1515.3+4941110bright (196256) 2003 EH1  ?
Gamma Ursae Minorids10 Jan – 22 Jan19 Jan29815.2+67313mediumundiscovered (short period)
Alpha Centaurids 31 Jan – 20 Feb8 Feb319.214.0−59586brightundiscovered
Lyrids 14 Apr – 30 Apr23 Apr32.3218.1+344918bright C/1861 G1 (Thatcher)
Pi Puppids 15 Apr – 28 Apr23 Apr33.57.3−4518variablebright 26P/Grigg–Skjellerup
Eta Aquariids 19 Apr – 28 May6 May45.522.5−16650bright 1P/Halley
Eta Lyrids3 May – 14 May10 May50.019.4+43433medium C/1983 H1 (IRAS-Araki-Alcock)
Daytime Arietids 14 May – 24 Jun7 Jun76.62.9+243830medium 1566 Icarus  ?
June Bootids 22 Jun – 2 Jul27 Jun95.714.9+4818variablebright 7P/Pons-Winnecke
July Pegasids 4 Jul – 14 Jul10 Jul107.522.7+15615medium C/1979 Y1 (Bradfield)
Piscis Austrinids15 Jul – 10 Aug28 Jul12522.7−25355faintundiscovered (short period,
probably disintegrated)
July Gamma Draconids25 Jul – 31 Jul28 Jul125.318.7+51275medium
Southern Delta Aquariids 12 Jul – 23 Aug31 Jul12722.7−164125brightP/2008 Y12 (SOHO)
Alpha Capricornids 3 Jul – 15 Aug31 Jul12720.5−10235bright 169P/NEAT
Eta Eridanids31 Jul – 19 Aug7 Aug135.02.7−11643medium C/1852 K1 (Chacornac)
Perseids 17 Jul – 24 Aug12 Aug140.03.2+5859100bright 109P/Swift-Tuttle
Kappa Cygnids 3 Aug – 28 Aug16 Aug14419.1+59233mediumundiscovered (possibly
related to 2002 GJ8)
Aurigids 28 Aug – 5 Sep1 Sep158.66.1+39666bright C/1911 N1 (Kiess)
September Epsilon Perseids5 Sep – 21 Sep9 Sep166.73.2+40645mediumundiscovered (moderate period)
Daytime Sextantids9 Sep – 9 Oct27 Sep184.310.10325bright (155140) 2005 UD
October Camelopardalids5 Oct – 6 Oct5 Oct192.5810.9+79475brightundiscovered (long period)
October Draconids 6 Oct – 10 Oct8 Oct195.417.5+542010medium 21P/Giacobini-Zinner
Epsilon Geminids14 Oct – 27 Oct18 Oct2056.8+27703medium C/1964 N1 (Ikeya)
Orionids 2 Oct – 7 Nov21 Oct2086.3+166620bright 1P/Halley
Leonis Minorids 19 Oct – 27 Oct24 Oct21110.8+37622medium C/1739 K1
Southern Taurids 20 Sep – 20 Nov5 Nov2233.5+15277bright 2P/Encke
Northern Taurids 20 Oct – 10 Dec12 Nov2303.9+22295bright 2004 TG10
Leonids 6 Nov – 30 Nov17 Nov235.2710.1+227110bright 55P/Tempel–Tuttle
Alpha Monocerotids 15 Nov – 25 Nov21 Nov239.327.8+165variablebrightundiscovered (long period)
November Orionids13 Nov – 6 Dec28 Nov2466.1+16443mediumundiscovered (moderate period,
probably disintegrated)
Phoenicids 28 Nov – 9 Dec1 Dec250.01.2−5318variablemedium 289P/Blanpain
Puppid-Velids1 Dec – 15 Dec2558.2−454010mediumundiscovered
Monocerotids 5 Dec – 20 Dec9 Dec2576.7+8413medium C/1917 F1 (Mellish)
Sigma Hydrids 3 Dec – 20 Dec9 Dec2578.3+2587mediumpossibly C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) [5]
Geminids 4 Dec – 20 Dec14 Dec262.27.5+3335150medium 3200 Phaethon
Comae Berenicids 5 Dec – 4 Feb16 Dec26410.5+30643mediumundiscovered (moderate period)
Ursids 17 Dec – 26 Dec22 Dec270.714.5+763310medium 8P/Tuttle

Table of provisionally named meteor showers

This is a list of provisional names proposed by authors for showers that have only received a designation by the IAU Meteor Data Center.

DesignationProvisional nameProvisional codeProvisional number Sol
(degrees)
RA
(degrees)
Dec
(degrees)
Vg
(km/s)
M2022-Q2Febr. omicron-AndromedidsFMA1212113.7342.4+44.053.3
M2023-D1Jan. alpha-BootidsJAB1213282.6218.8+28.258.9
M2023-D2theta-DracondisTDR1214296.3235.2+60.732.8
M2023-F1Aug. nu-Ursae MajoridsANU1215239.2155.8+59.755.0
M2023-F2chi DelphinidsCHD121667.3311.8+9.163.3
M2023-F3xi SerpentidsXIS121722.1266.3-15.965.9
M2023-F4Sep. beta Ursae-MajoridsSBU1218277.0164.3+54.048.0
M2023-F5delta-LeonidsDEO1219266.1164.3+20.568.0
M2023-K151-SagittidsFSG122054.54300.3+17.859.7
M2023-O1nu-HerculidsNUH122125.8270.5+30.748.9
M2023-V1lambda-SculptoridsLSC1222160.07.1-38.810.0
M2024-H1iota-HerculidsIHE122337.8261.1+47.335.6
M2024-N1psi-FornacidsPFO1224102.8844.26-38.2151.6
M2024-P1nu-CapricornidsNUC1225139.05306.65-11.3818.3
M2024-S1zeta-Ursae MinoridsZUM1226181.90238.27+77.2632.0
M2024-U1theta-LyridsTHL1227213.55288.87+37.0113.1
M2024-Y1September psi-CassiopeiidsSPC1228162.1020.6+73.546.4

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, "Altas of Earth's Meteor Showers", Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, ISBN   978-0-443-23577-1.

References


Further reading