Meteor shower calendar with peak dates for any year
This meteor shower calendar lists the thirteen major annual showers — from the Quadrantids in early January to the Ursids just before Christmas — with the peak date and time worked out for the year you choose, the expected rate, the radiant, the speed of the meteors, the parent comet or asteroid, and which hemisphere and hours of the night suit each one. A countdown at the top names the next peak.
Because moonlight is the biggest spoiler of a meteor watch, the calendar also computes the Moon’s illumination at each peak and grades the conditions from excellent to poor. The 2026 Perseids, for instance, peak on the night of 12–13 August at new moon and should be superb, while the 2026 Quadrantids coincide with a full moon. Peak times come from the Sun’s ecliptic longitude, the way the International Meteor Organization defines them, and are calculated in your browser.
How to use the Meteor Shower Calendar
- Enter the Year you are interested in — it starts on the current year — and pick the Time zone you want peak times shown in.
- Leave Countdown from at today to see the next shower, or set another date to plan a trip.
- Read the highlighted shower in the panel: peak date and local time, maximum rate and the Moon’s condition.
- Scan the table for the full year. Rows already past are greyed, the next shower is highlighted, and the Moon column shows a phase icon, the illuminated percentage and a rating.
- Use the “Best for” column to decide when to go out: most showers are strongest after midnight, when your side of the Earth faces into the meteor stream.
Meteor Shower Calendar features
Computed peak times
Each shower’s maximum is defined by a solar longitude; the calendar solves for the moment the Sun reaches it in your chosen year, so the date and hour are right for 2026, 2031 or 1999.
Moon interference grading
Illumination at the peak from the same lunar theory as the moon phase calculator: under 25% is excellent, 25–50% good, 50–80% fair, above 80% poor.
IMO data
Zenithal hourly rates, radiants, velocities and parent bodies from the International Meteor Organization’s working list of visual showers.
Countdown
Days until the next peak from any date, rolling into the following year.
Local time zones
Peak times in any IANA zone, so you know whether the maximum falls in your night.
What the numbers in the table mean
The ZHR (zenithal hourly rate) is the number of meteors an experienced observer would count per hour under a perfectly dark sky with the radiant at the zenith. Real counts are lower: with the radiant 30° up you see about half the ZHR, and suburban skies cut the rate further. The radiant is the point the meteors appear to stream from — trace a trail backwards and it points there — but the best place to look is 30–50° away from it, where trails are longer. Speed matters for appearance: the 71 km/s Leonids and 66 km/s Orionids leave glowing trains, while the 20 km/s Draconids drift slowly.
The parent body is the comet or asteroid whose dust the Earth is crossing. Halley’s Comet feeds two showers, the Eta Aquariids in May and the Orionids in October; the Geminids are unusual in coming from an asteroid, 3200 Phaethon. Showers are strongest when their parent has recently passed, which is why the Leonids storm roughly every 33 years and the Draconids occasionally erupt.
The year’s best showers
Dates shift by a day either way from year to year — the table above the fold gives the exact moment for the year you choose. For the Moon’s phase on any night use the moon phase calculator, and for when it sets and leaves the sky dark, the moonrise and moonset calculator.
| Shower | Peak | ZHR | Why watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quadrantids | 3–4 January | 110 | Very high rate but a peak only ~6 hours long; cold northern nights |
| Lyrids | 22–23 April | 18 | Oldest recorded shower (687 BC); fast meteors, some fireballs |
| Eta Aquariids | 5–6 May | 50 | Halley’s dust; excellent from the southern hemisphere before dawn |
| Perseids | 12–13 August | 100 | Warm nights, reliable rate, bright meteors with trains |
| Orionids | 21–22 October | 20 | Fast, trained meteors from Halley’s Comet; broad peak |
| Leonids | 17–18 November | 15 | Fastest meteors; storms when 55P/Tempel–Tuttle returns |
| Geminids | 13–14 December | 150 | Richest shower of the year; slow, bright, often colourful |
How to watch a meteor shower
- Go after midnight if you can: the Earth’s leading side faces the stream and rates climb until dawn.
- Get away from streetlights, lie back on a reclining chair or blanket, and give your eyes 20 minutes to adapt; keep phones dimmed and red.
- Look at a wide patch of sky 30–50° from the radiant and about 50–60° above the horizon; binoculars and telescopes are useless for meteors.
- Check the star chart to find the radiant constellation and the planets visible tonight for company while you wait.
- Dress for two hours of lying still — a Geminid watch is colder than it looks.
Meteor Shower Calendar FAQ
When is the next meteor shower?
The highlighted panel shows the next peak from today, with the local time and the Moon’s condition. Set “Countdown from” to any other date to plan ahead.
What time is the peak of the Perseids this year?
Enter the year and read the Perseids row: the peak time is computed from the Sun’s longitude of 140.0° and shown in your time zone. In 2026 it falls on 12–13 August, at new moon.
Why do I see far fewer meteors than the ZHR?
The ZHR assumes a perfectly dark sky and the radiant overhead. From a suburb with the radiant halfway up, a tenth to a third of the ZHR is typical; a bright Moon halves it again.
Does the Moon really matter that much?
Yes. A full moon brightens the sky by several magnitudes and hides all but the brightest meteors; a crescent that sets early leaves the pre-dawn hours dark. The rating in the Moon column reflects the illumination at the peak.
Which showers are good from the southern hemisphere?
The Eta Aquariids, Southern Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids are best from the south; the Geminids, Orionids, Leonids and Taurids are good from both hemispheres; the Quadrantids, Perseids, Draconids and Ursids are northern showers.
How accurate are the computed peak times?
The solar-longitude method gives the traditional maximum to within an hour or two, but real peaks can arrive several hours early or late and some showers have broad or double maxima. Treat the time as the centre of a night’s watching.