Draconid Shower Lights Up Sky Tonight

24 meteors per hour expected at peak time
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 8, 2015 6:30 AM CDT
Draconid Shower Lights Up Sky Tonight
A Draconid meteor and Northern Lights are observed near Skekarsbo at the Farnebofjardens National Park north of Stockholm on Oct. 8, 2011.   (AP Photo/SCANPIX, P-M Hed?n)

Anyone hoping to get a good look at this year's Draconid meteor shower should tune their eyes to the sky Thursday night. Though meteors should be visible in some parts of the Northern Hemisphere—including the US, Canada, Europe, and northern Asia, per Time—on Thursday and Friday evenings, the most meteors are likely to fall from the mouth of "dragon" constellation Draco between just before midnight on Thursday and predawn on Friday. If you want to get specific, experts predict the ideal time to watch is 1:40am EDT.

Thanks to the shrinking crescent moon, skywatchers will have "a nearly perfect chance to see as many as two dozen shooting stars per hour" between the North Star and the star Vega at this peak time, reports National Geographic, noting those shooting stars will actually be tiny particles, some as small as a grain of sand, flying off comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner and burning up in our atmosphere. Planning to be sound asleep at 1:40am EDT? You should still be able to see about 10 meteors per hour at other times of the night, reports CBS News. (More Draconid meteor shower stories.)

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