Draconid Meteor Shower peaks tonight: How and when to see shooting stars from the UK

If you love stargazing, be sure to keep an eye on the sky this evening.

The Draco meteor shower reaches its peak tonight, with up to 10 meteors streaking across the sky every hour.

While this is far fewer than August’s Perseid shower which had up to 100 meteors every hour, the Draconians boast something else, even more magical.

This is because they are best seen in the evening, after dark, unlike most meteor showers which put on their most spectacular displays in the early hours of the night.

If you want to take a look at this year’s Draconids, MailOnline has put together everything you need to know about how, when and where to look.

Meteor showers are best seen in the Northern Hemisphere, although Draconids can still be seen in the Southern Hemisphere, especially if you are close to the equator.

This is because the shower’s radiant point roughly coincides with the tip of the Draco constellation in the northern sky.

If you want to see a meteor shower, it’s best to head to an area with a good, clear view of the stars.

Avoid crowded cities as they have a lot of light pollution, and instead head into the dark countryside if you can.

The Royal Observatory Greenwich says: “Make sure there are no direct light sources in your eyes, so you can fully adapt to local conditions and ensure faint meteors appear.”

There is no point in using binoculars or a telescope; Just look with your own eyes to enjoy the widest possible view of the sky.

The bad news is that cloud cover could spoil visibility over much of Britain tonight.

The Met Office told MailOnline: “The forecast is currently for widespread cloud cover over much of the UK overnight Monday into Tuesday, although this cloud cover will be thinner in the south of the UK.”

“There may be occasional breaks in places like the east of Scotland too.”

Shortly after sunset, most of the east and south of the UK should be clear of clouds.

However, it will gradually move in and cover most of Britain as the night continues, so it’s best to get out early tonight to see the view from the UK.

If you can’t see it, the Draconians will still be visible until tomorrow evening, but they won’t be at their peak.

Meteor showers occur when Earth moves through a cloud of cometary debris.

In this case, the dragons come from the debris of Comet 21 P/Giacobini-Zinner.

The meteor shower takes its name from the constellation Draco, which is its radiant – the point in the sky from which meteors seem to come.

Draco is a long, winding constellation, easily visible to people in the Northern Hemisphere, in the northern sky.

It can be found above the Big Dipper and Polaris, the North Star.

The rate of meteors that can be seen depends on which part of the comet’s path intersects the Earth’s orbit in any given year, according to the Royal Observatory Greenwich.

The observatory describes the Draconids as “variable,” meaning you can never be sure what kind of light show you will get.

“In recent years, the Dragons have not produced any particular bursts of activity,” the Royal Observatory Greenwich says on its website.

“However, in 1933 and 1946, the Dragons produced some of the most energetic performances of the 20th century.”

If you missed the Dragon, there are still several other meteor showers that will be displayed in a celestial display this year.

The Jabbarians will appear next on October 21, followed by the Thorians (November 12) and the Eleonians (November 17).