Draconid Meteor Shower: Here's when and how to watch it

Feel lucky to live in the Northern Hemisphere, as you'll be able to see the Draconid Meteor Shower happening between 6 to 10 October. It will be peaking on 9 October, which is also the perfect date to set to watch the meteor shower.

Draconids are one of the less active meteor showers and are only visible in the northern hemisphere. With the moon being in its last quarter and dark and clear skies, about 10 meteors per hour can grace the skies near you!

Understand meteor showers

Meteors can be understood as flashes of light caused by debris coming from space crashing into our atmosphere.

When Earth passes through clouds of materials left by the comets in space, meteor showers happen in our skies.

Tiny grains of debris enter our atmosphere at such high speed that the friction between them and the air heats up and produces a flash of light across the sky.

Comet 21P aka Giacobini-Zinner takes around 6.5 years to orbit the sun and last passed by the Earth in 2018. The debris left by this comet causes The Draconids, aka Giacobinids.

These are also named after the constellation they radiate from, Draco.

How to watch the Draconid Meteor Shower?

Just like any meteor shower, these meteors will be flying through the sky.

The best way to watch is an evening with no clouds and to be away from areas with pollution. The best time to watch the showers is after midnight.

Plan a nice outing with your loved ones and wait for the dazzling shower. You will see if meteors cross the sky in front of you.

Want to watch the constellation Draco?

A collection of stars called the Summer Triangle can be used to locate the source of the Draconids- constellation Draco.

The triangle is made up of three bright stars-Altair, Deneb and Vega. It is visible in the east as soon as the sun sets.

Draw a line from Altair, the closest star in the triangle to the horizon, to Vega, the star in the top right, then keep on going and you will soon reach Draco.

Another way to find Draco is to use the constellation Ursa Major in particular within the pattern Plough or the Big Dipper.

Follow the line made by joining the two outer stars of the bowl of the Big Dipper to the pole star, Polaris. Once you get to Polaris, draw an imaginary line perpendicular and to the left, and this points towards Draco.

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