Fall Skywatching Dates To Know For Meteor Showers, Supermoons And More

Fall is an excellent time to look up at the heavens for a chance to see shooting stars, supermoons and other celestial events.

Three meteor showers — the Draconids, Orionids and Taurids — all peak in October, which also sees the first of three consecutive supermoons. The opening act is the always gorgeous full harvest moon, which already appears larger than normal as it creeps over the horizon soon after sunset, bathing the early evening landscape in golden moonlight.

Also, the chances of seeing the ethereal curtains of purple, pink, green and yellow light from the aurora borealis are enhanced around the autumnal equinox, which falls on Sept. 22 this year and marks the official beginning of fall. Meteorological fall starts on Sept. 1.

Below are some dates and things you need to know as you fill out your fall skywatching calendar:

Orionids Top Early Fall Meteor Showers

Of three shooting star shows peaking in October, the best bet is the Orionid meteor shower. It runs Sept. 26-Nov. 22, peaking around Oct. 21-22.

Regarded as one of the most stunningly beautiful shooting star shows of the year, the Orionids produce about 23 meteors an hour.

The meteors are both bright and fast, entering Earth’s atmosphere at about 148,000 miles per hour. Meteors that fast can leave glowing trains — that is, incandescent bits of debris that can last several seconds or even minutes — and also fireballs.

A nearly full moon — and a supermoon at that — will interfere with the peaks of both the Draconoids and the Taurids, which occur within days of each other.

Don’t rule out a surprise from the short-lived Draconids, which run Oct. 6-10 and peak Oct. 8. Sometimes called the Giacobinid meteor shower in honor of the astronomer who discovered the comet that produces it, this sleepy shower offers only a smattering of meteors.

However, Draconid meteor storms can bring hundreds of shooting stars a minute in some years. Notable reports were filed in Europe in 1933, when 500 shooting stars a minute were observed, and in the United States in 1946, when 50 to 100 meteors an hour were reported.

It’s possible 2025 could be one of those years. Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner was at perihelion — that is, the point in its orbit that it’s closest to the sun — in March 2025, and that could increase the chances of a meteor storm, according to EarthSky.

This shower differs from others in that it peaks in the early evening.

The first peak of the Taurid meteor shower on Oct. 9-10 will be dimmed by light from the supermoon a few days earlier, and so will the second peak on Nov. 8-9. But fireballs could save the day for stargazers.

The Taurids are unique because they consist of two separate streams — the first created by grain dust left behind by Asteroid 2004/TG10, and the second by dust grains left behind by Comet 2P/Encke.

Together, they run from about Sept. 28-Dec 2. Both streams are rich in fireballs, and are often responsible for increased numbers of fireball reports, according to the American Meteor Society. The South Taurids run from Sept.10 to Nov. 30, and the North Taurids from Oct. 13-Dec. 1.

Geminids Always A Can’t-Miss Show

The Leonids meteor shower runs Nov. 3-Dec. 2 and puts on an average show of about 15 meteors an hour at its Nov. 18-19 — except during cyclonic peaks that occur about every 33 years, when hundreds of meteors an hour can be seen. It happened last in 2001, putting us years away from a similar show from this shower created by dust grains left behind by comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, discovered in 1865.

Meteor experts say the Geminid meteor shower is hands-down the best in the heavens, producing 120 meteors at the Dec. 13-14 peak. The meteors are bright, fast and yellowish. Produced by debris left behind by the asteroid 3200 Phaethon, discovered in 1982, it runs from Nov. 19-Dec. 24.

3 Consecutive Supermoons

The full corn moon on Sept. 7 is the last “regular” full moon of the year. Indigenous North American tribes named the moon to mark the season for corn harvesting, which continues around this time in modern farming operations

September’s full moon is sometimes called the harvest moon, which is always the moon that falls closest to the fall equinox. This year, that designation is reserved for the Oct. 6 full supermoon.

Both the September and October full moons will appear to be orange as they creep over the horizon just after sunset.

As with the sunset, the moon’s light travels through a thicker portion of Earth’s atmosphere when it is low on the horizon. This causes the shorter-wavelength blue light to scatter away and allow in the longer-wavelength orange and red light that creates full moons that are sometimes equated with the “great pumpkin.”

Supermoons occur when the moon is at perigee, the point in its orbit when it is closest to Earth, making it appear up to 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than the faintest full moon of the year. Although not an official astronomical term, any full moon that is at least 90 percent of perigee may be called a supermoon.

The average moon is about 238,900 miles from Earth, according to EarthSky. Compare that to the three supermoons this year:

• Oct. 6 full harvest moon: 224,599 miles
• Nov. 5 full beaver moon: 221,817 miles
• Dec. 4 full cold moon: 221,965 miles

You May See The Aurora

There’s no guarantee, of course, but the chances of seeing stunning northern lights displays increase after the fall equinox, according to NASA. Both the spring and fall equinoxes are good aurora seasons, but autumn produces a surplus of geomagnetic storms — almost twice the annual average.

This year, the changes are even greater. The sun is at its solar maximum peak in the 11-year Solar Cycle 25, meaning the chances of seeing northern lights displays are heightened.

The northern lights, as the aurora is called in the Northern Hemisphere, are triggered by powerful solar flares and coronal mass ejections that increase in frequency during the solar maximum phase of the natural cycle the sun goes through in the transition between low and high magnetic activity.

Predicting when “Lady Aurora” might dance is tricky, but experts say conditions remain ideal for auroral activity.

Solar Cycle 25 is the most active on record, and space weather forecasters aren’t quite sure why.

“It’s one of the many mysteries to unravel,” space weather forecaster Shawn Dahl explained in a briefing with reporters last fall. He and others expect more northern lights displays outside the Arctic range in 2025, and perhaps into 2026.

Will We See Eclipses?

A couple of eclipse events are coming up, but we won’t see them in the lower 48 states.

A total lunar eclipse Sept. 7-8 will be visible in Alaska, as well as Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, parts of eastern South America, and Antarctica.

A partial solar eclipse on Sept. 21 will be visible in parts of Australia, the Atlantic, the Pacific and Antarctica.

What’s Happening Where You Live?

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