October Meteor Showers

October’s Draconid meteor shower – sometimes called the Giacobinids – radiates from the fiery mouth of the northern constellation Draco the Dragon. Because the radiant is located so far north on the sky’s dome, this shower favors temperate and far-northern latitudes, such as the U.S., Canada, Europe and northern Asia.

Draconid Meteor Shower
Saturday, October 7, 2017 | Starting at nightfall
U.S., Canada, Europe and northern Asia
FREE to watch, duh

In 2017, the most meteors will probably fall on the evening of October 7 or 8. Start watching first thing at nightfall. The waning gibbous moon will rise at early evening, so there will be very little moon-free time to view this shower. They must warn you that this shower is often a sleeper, even in a dark sky completely free of moonlight. But watch out if the Dragon awakes, which is always a possibility.

Unlike most meteor showers, the Draconids are best seen in the evening, instead of before dawn. That’s because the winged Dragon, the shower’s radiant point, flies highest in the sky at nightfall.

These extremely slow-moving Draconid meteors, when traced backward, radiate from the head of Draco the Dragon, near the stars Eltanin and Rastaban.

However, you don’t have to locate Draco the Dragon to watch the Draconids, for these meteors fly every which way through the starry sky.

Usually, this meteor shower offers no more than a handful of languid meteors per hour, even at its peak.

Source: EarthSky