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- The Draco meteor shower will peak on October 9 this year
- At peak, there can be up to 10 meteors flying through the sky every hour
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If you are a fan of stargazing, be sure to mark Monday evening in your diary.
The Draco meteor shower will peak on October 9, providing you with the perfect opportunity to see meteors from the UK.
While most meteor showers are best seen in the early hours of the night, Draculae differ in that they are best seen in the evening, after dark.
At the peak, experts expect there may be up to 10 meteors flying through the sky every hour.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Draco meteor shower, including how and when you can see it from your area.
The Draconid meteor shower takes its name from the constellation Draco. It is best viewed in the evening, just after sunset. Meteors fly in all directions across the sky when they arrive
The Draconid meteor shower occurs from October 6 to 10 this year, but will peak on Monday, October 9.
Meteor showers occur when Earth moves through a cloud of cometary debris.
In this case, the Draconic meteor shower comes from debris from Comet 21 P/Giacobini-Zinner.
It 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.
Dracopods are best seen in the Northern Hemisphere, although they can still be seen in the Southern Hemisphere, especially if 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.
The rate of meteors during the peak of the dragon shower depends on what part of the comet’s path intersects Earth’s orbit in any given year, according to the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
A fisherman watches a meteorite during the Draconid meteor shower over the Howick Rocks in Northumberland in 2021
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 want to see it, 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 advises: “Make sure there are no direct sources of light in your eyes, so you can fully adapt to the local conditions and ensure that 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.
Unfortunately, the Met Office says the forecast “doesn’t look particularly good” on Monday night.
A spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘The forecast is currently for widespread cloud cover over much of the UK overnight from Monday to 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.”
If you missed the Dragon, luckily there are several other meteor showers that will grace our skies this year.
Orionids will appear next on October 21, followed by Thoraeids (November 12) and Orionids (November 17).
(Tags for translation) Daily Mail