Draconid Meteor Shower Peaks Over FL, Orionids Are Up Next

FLORIDA — The Draconids are the one meteor shower of the year Florida residents don’t have to stay up past midnight or get up early to see, and it’s about to peak.

The short-lived shower starts Sunday and runs through Thursday, Oct. 10, with peak activity occurring Tuesday morning. Unlike other shooting star shows, the Draconids peak in the early evening.

Tampa area skies are expected to be mostly cloudy during the peak, from Saturday through Tuesday overnight hours. The waxing crescent moon will be about 25 percent illuminated, but will set before 9 p.m. local time.

Sometimes called the Giacobinid meteor shower in honor of the astronomer who discovered the comet that produces it, the shooting star show passes almost without notice most years with only a smattering of meteors — maybe five an hour.

In some years, Draco the Dragon — the radiant point of the shower — awakens and breathes fire in what’s called an outburst or meteor storm. Meteor experts don’t expect a Draconid outburst this year, but there’s always a chance as Earth passes through the bits of ice and rock left behind by Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner as it hurtles through the solar system.

A meteor storm in Europe in 1933 rained down 500 shooting stars a minute. Less spectacular meteor storms were reported in 1946 in the United States, with reports of 50 to 100 Draconid meteors an hour.

• Related: More Reasons To Look Up In October

Orionid and Taurid meteors are also flying right now. The Orionid meteor shower, which runs through Nov. 22 and usually produces only about 23 meteors an hour at its Oct. 20-21 peak, is considered one of the most beautiful shooting star shows of the year, according to NASA.

The long-running Taurids continue through Dec 2. The shower has two streams, the Southern and Northern Taurids, and is not as showy as some meteor showers. Peaks are Nov. 4-5 and Nov. 11-12.

• Related: Last Chance To See ‘Comet Of Century’ For 80,000 Years

If you still need a reason to poke your head in the sky, it’s Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas, The so-called “comet to the century” is expected to make an appearance in the evening sky as it makes its closest approach to Earth Oct. 11-12. The comet should be visible through the end of October.