Draconid meteor shower 2026: when and how to watch
Peak night: Thursday 8 October, when and where to look
- When: once it is fully dark, about an hour and a half after sunset, and for the next few hours. Evening is the best time because the shower's radiant is high then. The predicted peak is 01:00 UTC on Friday 9 October.
- Where to look: no telescope needed. Find a dark spot away from lights, face north-west to north, and take in a wide patch of sky about halfway up.
- What to expect: a few slow meteors an hour, up to about ten under a dark, clear sky. The moon is almost new, so it will not get in the way.
- Cloudy on Thursday? Check your local cloud forecast. The shower stays active until 10 October, so Friday evening 9 October is a second chance.
The Draconid meteor shower peaks on the night of Thursday 8 October into Friday 9 October 2026. This is a good year to look: the moon is almost new, so the sky will be dark. It is also the rare shower that is best in the evening, so nobody has to get up before dawn.
Key facts
| Active | 6 to 10 October |
|---|---|
| Peak | Around 01:00 UTC on 9 October |
| Best time to look | The evening of 8 October, as soon as it is fully dark |
| How many | Up to about 10 meteors an hour under a dark sky |
| Moon | Thin crescent that rises just before dawn; new moon on 10 October |
| Best seen from | The Northern Hemisphere |
Sources: EarthSky, using American Meteor Society predictions, and the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
The peak in your time zone
The predicted peak is 01:00 UTC on Friday 9 October. Because the Draconids are at their best while their radiant is high, the evening of Thursday 8 October is the time to watch almost everywhere in the Northern Hemisphere, even where the exact peak falls in the small hours.
| City | Predicted peak (local) | Best time to look |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | Thu 6:00 p.m. (still light) | Thursday from about 7:30 p.m. to midnight |
| Denver, Mexico City | Thu 7:00 p.m. | Thursday as soon as it is dark |
| Chicago | Thu 8:00 p.m. | Thursday as soon as it is dark |
| New York, Toronto | Thu 9:00 p.m. | Thursday from about 7:30 p.m. |
| London, Dublin | Fri 2:00 a.m. | Thursday evening, and up to 2 a.m. if you can |
| Lagos | Fri 2:00 a.m. (radiant has set) | Thursday evening |
| Paris, Berlin, Madrid | Fri 3:00 a.m. | Thursday evening, and up to 3 a.m. if you can |
| Istanbul | Fri 4:00 a.m. (radiant very low) | Thursday evening |
| Cairo, Riyadh | Fri 4:00 a.m. (radiant has set) | Thursday evening |
| Dubai, Karachi, New Delhi | Fri 5:00 to 6:30 a.m. (radiant has set) | Thursday and Friday evenings |
| Beijing, Tokyo | Fri 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. (daylight) | Thursday and Friday evenings |
Peak times for meteor showers are estimates, and the Draconids stay active from 6 to 10 October, so a second evening is worth a try if Thursday is cloudy.
Can I see them from where I live?
The meteors seem to come from a point in the constellation Draco that sits about 54 degrees north of the celestial equator. That decides who can see them:
- Europe, North America, North Africa, the Middle East and northern Asia: good. The radiant is high in the north-west after dark.
- The tropics, such as Lagos, Mumbai, Manila or Mexico City: the radiant is about 30 to 40 degrees up in the north-west in the evening, lower than in Europe, so expect somewhat fewer meteors. It sets later in the night, so watch in the evening.
- The Southern Hemisphere: very few or none. South of about 36° south, as in Melbourne, the radiant never rises at all. In Sydney, Buenos Aires and Cape Town it barely clears the horizon.
How to watch
- You need no telescope or binoculars. Your eyes see the widest patch of sky.
- Get away from street lights and give your eyes 20 minutes to adjust. Keep your phone screen off.
- The meteors seem to come from the head of the constellation Draco, the Dragon, which sits high in the north-west after dark. You don't need to find it. Lie back and look up.
- Draconids are slow compared with other meteors, which makes them easier to catch.
How to photograph them
- Put a phone or camera on a tripod or a steady surface and point it at a dark part of the sky about halfway up, roughly towards the north-west.
- On a camera, use the widest lens you have, ISO 1600 to 3200 and exposures of 15 to 25 seconds, and let it shoot continuously.
- On a phone, use night mode or a long-exposure app. Most shots will catch nothing, so take many.
Could there be a meteor storm?
In most years the Draconids are quiet. But the shower is famous for rare surprises. In 1933 and 1946 it produced thousands of meteors an hour, and observers in Europe counted more than 600 an hour in 2011.
The meteors are dust left by Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, which circles the sun every 6.6 years. Storms tend to happen when the comet is nearby. It made its closest pass to the sun in March 2025 and is still fairly close. So will 2026 bring a storm? EarthSky's answer: "Probably not … but you never know."
What comes next
The Orionids, made of dust from Halley's Comet, peak around 21 October.
