THE SOLAR SYSTEM
SELECTED ANNUAL METEOR SHOWERS
Shower Begins Max. Ends Max. Parent Notes
ZHR comet
Quadrantids 1 Jan 4 Jan 6 Jan 60 – Radiant in Boötes.
Short, sharp max.
Lyrids 19 Apr 21 Apr 25 Apr 10 Thatcher Occasionally rich,
as in 1922 and 1982.
Eta Aquarids 24 Apr 5 May 20 May 35 Halley Broad maximum.
Delta Aquarids 15 July 29 July 6 Aug 20 – Double radiant.
20 Aug Faint meteors.
Perseids 23 Jul 12 Aug 20 Aug 75 Swift–Tuttle Rich; consistent.
Orionids 16 Oct 22 Oct 27 Oct 25 Halley Swift; fine trails.
Draconids 10 Oct 10 Oct 10 Oct var. Giacobini– Usually weak, but
Zinner occasional great displays,
as in 1933 and 1946.
Taurids 20 Oct 3 Nov 30 Nov 10 Encke Slow meteors. Fine
display in 1988.
Leonids 15 Nov 17 Nov 20 Nov var. Tempel– Usually sparse, but
Tuttle occasional storms at
intervals of 33 years:
good displays from 1999
to 2001. No more Leonid
storms expected in the
near future.
Andromedids 15 Nov 20 Nov 6 Dec v. low Biela Now almost extinct.
Geminids 7 Dec 13 Dec 16 Dec 75 Phaethon Rich, consistent.
(asteroid)
Ursids 17 Dec 23 Dec 25 Dec 5 Tuttle Can be rich, as in 1945
and 1986.▲ Fireball(a brilliant
meteor) photographed at
22.55 UT on 8 November
1991 by John Fletcher,
from Gloucester, England.
Exposure time 6 seconds;
film 3M 1000; focal length
50 mm; f/2.8.▼ Comet Swift–Tuttle,the
parent comet of the Perseid
meteors, photographed by
Don Trombino at 23.35 UT
on 12 December 1992. It
never became bright at
this return, but was widely
observed.▲ The ‘radiant’ principle.
I took this picture from
Alaska in 1992; the parallel
tracks seem to radiate from
a point near the horizon. The Leonid meteor storm
as seen from Arizona,
17 November 1966. It seems
to have been just as rich
as the storms of 1799, 1833
and 1866.D108-151 UNIVERSE UK 2003CB 7/4/03 5:20 pm Page 147