Meteor showers are annual peaks in activity that occur when the Earth crosses a stream of debris left behind by another object, usually a comet. Many showers go through cycles of increased and decreased activity depending on how recently their parent body was near the Earth in its orbit. The Leonids are well known for this effect, with the parent body, Comet Tempel-Tuttle, having a 33-year period. Consequently, for a few encounters every 33 years the Leonids can produce impressive numbers of meteors, while it remains a fairly minor shower most of the remaining years.

Meteors that are part of a shower appear to follow paths that point back to a common point in the sky, called the radiant. That's because all of the meteors are traveling in the same direction when they strike the Earth's atmosphere, so the radiant is really just the vanishing point. If you've ever driven a car when it was snowing, you will have noticed the same effect, with the snowflakes appearing to come from a single point in front of the car. Meteor showers are named for the constellation that their radiant lies in.

This chart shows meteor activity as recorded over six years by the Cloudbait allsky camera. The major showers are very obvious, as is their uneven distribution throughout the year. The Leonids appears to be a much more major shower than it really is. That's because this data includes 2001 and 2002, when the Leonids were unusually active. In fact, the Orionids, Perseids, and Geminids are all much more active showers than the Leonids. As more data is added to this chart over the next few years, the Leonid peak will start dropping down to a much lower level.

The chart below is a density plot showing the radiant positions of 8933 meteors recorded by the Cloudbait camera from mid-2004 to mid-2007. The locations of major showers are clearly seen.

This calendar shows the peak dates for major and moderate showers in 2008. ZHR indicates the average Zenith Hourly Rate, or the number of meteors you could expect to see overhead in an hour from a dark location. This number is sometimes quite variable. Observing conditions are best when there is no interference from the Moon (when the phase is small). Unfortunately, the Moon will interfere substantially with most major showers this year.

Past Showers

• 2008 Quadrantids
• 2007 Geminids
• 2007 Orionids
• 2007 Aurigids
• 2007 Perseids
• 2006 Geminids
• 2006 Orionids
• 2006 Perseids
• 2005 Geminids
• 2005 Orionids
• 2005 Perseids
• 2004 Geminids
• 2004 Leonids
• 2004 Orionids
• 2004 Perseids
• 2004 Southern Delta Aquarids
• 2002 Leonids and Geminids
• 2001 Leonids