Draconids Kick Up Fall Meteor Shower Season In Wisconsin

WISCONSIN— It’s been a bit since shooting stars streaked across the Wisconsin skies, but fall meteor showers are already underway with the Orionids and longrunning Taurids spitting out meteors and the much shorter but more unpredictable Draconid meteor shower peaking this weekend.

The Draconids run Thursday through Monday, Oct. 6-10, peaking Saturday and Sunday, according to the American Meteor Society.

But will the weather cooperate? Here is Milwaukee's forecast from the National Weather Service:

Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of showers into the evening with mostly cloudy skies and a low around 52.

Thursday: A 40 percent chance of showers in the day then partly sunny with a high around 63. A 20 percent chance of showers remains into the evening with partly cloudy skies and a low around 38.

Friday: Mostly sunny during the day with a high around 50 then widespread frost into the evening, but mostly clear skies.

Saturday: Widespread frost expected into the day with a high near 55 then mostly clear into the evening.

Sunday: Areas of frost but mostly sunny in the day.

The big difference between the Draconids and other meteor showers is they’re best viewed in the early evening hours. Typically a minor show with only about 10 shooting stars an hour, the Draconids can be a sleeper.

Every so often, the Draconids — sometimes called the Giacobinids, because they are produced by debris steam left behind by comet 21P Giacobini-Zinner — produce a storm. When that happens, astrologers wax about “Draco the dragon” breathing fire — the large constellation Draco is the radiant pint — and spewing out hundreds of meteors an hour. That’s happened in 1933 in Europe and 1946.

RELATED: 2022 Guide To Meteor Showers, Supermoons, Other Celestial Events

The moonlight will be problematic this year, but the possibility of a storm makes the Draconid meteor shower one to put on the calendar. There’s one other thing that makes the Draconids unique: You don’t have to stay up late or get up early to see them. They are most likely to fly in the evening hours than after midnight and before dawn.

But if you miss them, things are just getting started.

The Orionid meteor shower, which started Sunday and continues through Nov. 7, peaks Oct. 21-22. The thin, crescent moon will leave mostly dark skies for the peak, when about 20 shooting stars an hour fly in typical years. The meteors are fast-moving and occasionally produce bright fireballs and leave persistent trains.

So-named because meteors radiate from the same area of the sky as the Orion constellation, the Orionids are produced by debris from the famous Halley’s Comet.

The hours between midnight and dawn are the best time to see the Orionids.

Both the Draconids and Orionids intersect the Taurid meteor showers — that’s plural because the meteor shower that rambles along through late summer and most of the fall comes from two separate streams — the first created by grain dust left behind by Asteroid 2004/TG10, and the second by debris left behind by Comet 2P/Encke. It runs Sept. 7-Dec. 10.

The best times to see Taurids are late October and early November, when the two streams overlap. The South Taurids peak around Nov. 5; the North Taurids peak around Nov. 12.

Occasionally, the Taurids create a “swarm” with numerous bright fireballs. The last one was in 2015. In normal years, though, they produce about five or 10 shooting stars an hour. Like most meteor showers, this is best viewed after midnight.

Take along a camera. Report a fireball — a very bright meteor — to the American Meteor Society.

You may also like:

Aurora Borealis Displays More Likely In Active Solar Storm Season

Aurora Borealis Hunting: What’s A Kp Index, More Northern Lights Tips