Draconid Meteor Shower This Weekend

The 2023 Draconid meteor shower gets underway tonight and lasts until 10 October, with peak viewing on Sunday night.

So, what direction do you need to look and what's the best time to do so? Happily, the answer to both questions is easy. The radiant of the Draconid meteor shower - the point from which the meteors appear to emanate in the night sky - is the constellation Draco. Draco can be found winding its way between Ursa Minor and Ursa Major, so look for the Plough and you can easily find the Draconids' radiant. Then look about two thirds up in the sky in any direction.

The best time to see the 2023 Draconids will be as the sky darkens - a couple of hours after sunset, and whilst the Moon is still below the horizon.

Typically, the Draconid meteor shower produces a peak zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) of 10 meteors per hour. However, short-term Draconid meteor shower boosts - up to 300 meteors per hour - have been seen in recent years, but sadly there's no way of predicting the numbers for this year's spectacle.

The Draconid meteor shower put on awesome displays in 1933 and 1946, with ZHR rates measured at thousands of meteors per hour. So, you never know, we might be in for a wonderful treat this weekend!

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