One of the most convenient meteor showers of the year takes place on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, with the peak of the Draconids. For observers in the Northern Hemisphere, “shooting stars” from the shower may be visible as soon as the sky grows dark, though a bright moon may interfere.
Up to 10 shooting stars per hour can be visible after sunset in northern skies during the peak of the Draconid meteor shower, as seen from the Northern Hemisphere. However, the Draconids can sometimes surprise observers with dramatic outbursts.
Unlike most meteor showers, which are best viewed in the early morning hours, the Draconids are an evening event. The radiant point of the Draconid meteor shower — the constellation Draco, the dragon — is highest in the sky, due north, just as darkness falls.
Although the shower is visible as soon as the sky grows dark, on Oct. 8, the moon will be 96%-illuminated and in the night sky soon after dark, so strong moonlight may make the Draconids harder to see.
All "shooting stars" are the result of debris from comets busting into Earth's atmosphere. When those particles collide with Earth’s atmosphere at high speed, they vaporize, creating the glowing streaks in the night sky. The root cause of the Draconids is comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, a short-period comet that orbits the sun every 6.5 years. It looped around the sun in March, so the Draconid meteor shower could be stronger than usual this year.
Any meteors will appear to radiate from the northern constellation Draco, Latin for dragon, which coils between Hercules, Cepheus, Ursa Minor and Ursa Major. For an easy reference point, find Alkaid, the star at the tip of the Big Dipper’s handle, low in the north — then look roughly above it. Just below the bright star Eltanin in Draco’s head lies the radiant point for the Draconids. However, shooting stars can appear anywhere in the night sky. There’s no particular time to look for the Draconids, which may be active all night because Draco is circumpolar — it moves around Polaris, the North Star, where Earth's northern axis points, so visible all night from northern latitudes.
Two weeks after the Draconids comes another major meteor shower, and one with better sky conditions. The Orionid meteor shower, which peaks on Tuesday, Oct. 21, through Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, is the product of debris from the famous Halley’s Comet. This meteor shower peaks during a new moon, which means dark skies throughout the night. By coincidence, the peak of the Orionids comes as Comet Lemmon (C/2025 A6) reaches its closest approach to Earth. Binoculars will give the best chance of spotting it, though it could be faintly visible to the naked eye under dark skies if it brightens more than expected.