Astronomy Education

2017 Major Meteor Showers

Shower

Peak Dates

ZHr*

Comments

Quadrantids

Jan 3-4

50-100

Peak is in the pre dawn hours, in fact the best viewing is just before sunrise. Waxing crescent moon will set in the evening and provide no interference. This meteor shower always favors northerly latitudes in the northern hemisphere due to its radiant being near the handle of the Big Dipper asterism, but its peak only lasts for a few hours. Therefore most observers see rates much less then 50-100 per hour.

Lyrids

Very early morning Apr 22

10-20

Look between midnight and sunrise, with the peak viewing just before sunrise. A thin, waning crescent moon for all practical purposes will not give any interference. The radiant for this shower is near the border of the constellations Lyra and Hercules.

Eta Aquariids

May 5-6

Peak time occurs for a couple of hours just before sunrise. Waxing gibbous moon will provide no interference as it will set before the pre dawn hours. This shower favors the southern hemisphere and the southern latitudes of the northern hemisphere as the radiant is from near the star Eta in the constellation Aquarius. In the northern U.S. and Canada, less than 10 to 20 meteors per hour can be expected whereas the shower is quite spectacular in the southern hemisphere.

Delta Aquariids

July 28-30

15-20

Peak time occurs for a couple of hours just before sunrise. Waxing crescent moon will provide no interference. This shower favors the southern hemisphere and the southern latitudes of the northern hemisphere as the radiant is near the star Delta in the constellation Aquarius. In the northern U.S. and Canada, less than 15 to 20 meteors per hour can be expected and the meteors are typically rather faint.

Perseids

The peak of the Perseids occurs from 9 am CDT August 12th through...