The Draconid meteor shower 2022 will peak around Oct. 8 and Oct. 9 and is best viewed in the evening.
Unfortunately, the Hunter’s Full Moon on Oct. 9 will outshine fainter meteors, rendering viewing conditions for the Draconids unfavorable this year.
The Draconids are caused by Earth passing through debris — bits of ice and rock — left behind by Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner as it hurtles through the solar system, passing Earth once every 6.6 years, according to NASA Science (opens in new tab). Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner last reached perihelion — or the point in its orbit at which it is closest to the sun — on Sept. 10, 2018, at 2:40 a.m. EDT (0640 GMT), just a few minutes after making its closest approach to Earth.
Related: Meteor shower guide 2022: Dates and viewing advice
Daisy Dobrijevic
Daisy joined Space.com in February 2022; before that she worked as a staff writer for our sister publication All About Space magazine. Daisy has written numerous articles and guides for notable skywatching events including the Perseid meteor shower, the next solar eclipse and the next lunar eclipse.
In recent years, the Draconids have been relatively quiet, producing few meteors and no notable outbursts of activity — a far cry from the showers of old, when the Draconids produced some of the most impressive meteor showers of the 20th century in 1933 and 1946. During these meteor storms, thousands of meteors were spotted every hour, according to the U.K. meteor network (opens in new tab).
Outbursts like those, and lesser ones in 1926, 1952, 1985, 1998 and 2011, seem “to occur only when the Earth passes just inside Comet Giacobini-Zinner’s orbit shortly after the comet itself has gone by,” wrote Space.com skywatching columnist Joe Rao.
The Draconids are sometimes called the Giacobinids, after French astronomer Michel Giacobini who discovered the comet 21 P/Giacobini-Zinner, according to Royal Museums Greenwich (opens in new tab).
Where can you see the Draconid meteor shower?
(opens in new tab)
Meteor showers are named after the constellation from which the meteors appear to emanate. From Earth’s perspective, the Draconids appear to come approximately from the direction of the constellation Draco, the dragon.
Despite its size and designation as the eighth-largest constellation, Draco is not…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Space…