Meteor Shower Calendar 2026: Peak Dates and Times

The Perseids, Geminids, Quadrantids and the rest, with peak nights and moonlight conditions.

Times shown in your time zone (showing UTC).

Draconids

Peak Thu, Oct 8, 2026, 16:12 UTC

Active Oct 6, 2026 to Oct 10, 2027 · Moon 4% lit at peak

Up to 10 meteors/hour · 21P/Giacobini-Zinner

Orionids

Peak Wed, Oct 21, 2026, 09:24 UTC

Active Oct 2, 2026 to Nov 7, 2026 · Moon 75% lit at peak

Up to 20 meteors/hour · 1P/Halley

Southern Taurids

Peak Thu, Nov 5, 2026, 09:58 UTC

Active Sep 9, 2026 to Nov 20, 2026 · Moon 15% lit at peak

Up to 5 meteors/hour · 2P/Encke

Northern Taurids

Peak Thu, Nov 12, 2026, 09:16 UTC

Active Oct 20, 2026 to Dec 10, 2026 · Moon 9% lit at peak

Up to 5 meteors/hour · 2P/Encke

Leonids

Peak Tue, Nov 17, 2026, 14:53 UTC

Active Nov 6, 2026 to Nov 30, 2026 · Moon 51% lit at peak

Up to 10 meteors/hour · 55P/Tempel-Tuttle

Geminids

Peak Mon, Dec 14, 2026, 04:51 UTC

Active Dec 4, 2026 to Dec 19, 2026 · Moon 22% lit at peak

Up to 150 meteors/hour · (3200) Phaethon

Ursids

Peak Tue, Dec 22, 2026, 13:17 UTC

Active Dec 16, 2026 to Dec 25, 2026 · Moon 96% lit at peak

Up to 10 meteors/hour · 8P/Tuttle

Quadrantids

Peak Sun, Jan 3, 2027, 18:31 UTC

Active Dec 28, 2026 to Jan 11, 2027 · Moon 14% lit at peak

Up to 80 meteors/hour · (196256) 2003 EH1

Lyrids

Peak Thu, Apr 22, 2027, 16:18 UTC

Active Apr 14, 2027 to Apr 30, 2027 · Moon 96% lit at peak

Up to 18 meteors/hour · C/1861 G1 (Thatcher)

Eta Aquariids

Peak Thu, May 6, 2027, 05:44 UTC

Active Apr 19, 2027 to May 27, 2027 · Moon 0% lit at peak

Up to 50 meteors/hour · 1P/Halley

Southern Delta Aquariids

Peak Thu, Jul 29, 2027, 07:42 UTC

Active Jul 11, 2027 to Aug 23, 2027 · Moon 23% lit at peak

Up to 25 meteors/hour · 96P/Machholz

Alpha Capricornids

Peak Fri, Jul 30, 2027, 08:48 UTC

Active Jul 3, 2027 to Aug 15, 2027 · Moon 13% lit at peak

Up to 5 meteors/hour · 169P/NEAT

Perseids

Peak Thu, Aug 12, 2027, 22:32 UTC

Active Jul 16, 2027 to Aug 24, 2027 · Moon 84% lit at peak

Up to 100 meteors/hour · 109P/Swift-Tuttle

How to watch a meteor shower

Rates quoted for each shower are the zenithal hourly rate, the number you would count under a perfectly dark sky with the radiant overhead. Real counts are lower, so find the darkest spot you can, give your eyes twenty minutes to adapt, and look about halfway up the sky rather than straight at the radiant. The hours after midnight are best because your side of Earth then faces into the stream. A bright Moon washes out fainter meteors, which is why each shower here lists the Moon's illumination on the peak night.