The Draconid meteor shower will rise on Sunday, October 9, providing an opportunity to see fireballs that seem to emerge from the Draco constellation.

Sadly, this year’s apex aligns with the full Hunter’s Moon in October, which makes viewing the Draconids difficult. Nonetheless, the luminous point (the juncture from which the meteors appear to originate) should be at its peak on the horizon just before nighttime, around 5:00 p.m. IST, suggesting that some of the meteor showers may be visible before the full moon rises.

What is the Draconid meteor shower?

The Draconids are also known as the Giacobinids as they are the remains of the small comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner. On December 20, 1900, from the Nice Observatory in France, Michel Giacobini first observed this comet in the evening sky. The comet was faint and was located in the constellation Aquarius’ southern hemisphere. Giacobini was using the largest telescope for comet hunting at the time, a 46-centimetre (18-inch diameter lens) refractor telescope.

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The comet has a 6.6-year orbit and last approached Earth in 2018, coming closest in 72 years. When the International Cometary Explorer, or ICE, discovered 21P/Giacobini-Zinner in 1985, it became the first spacecraft to fly directly through the comet’s luminous tendrils. 

According to the UK Meteor Network, the Draconids have been relatively calm in recent years, but they created some of the most stunning displays of the twentieth century in 1933 and 1946, when literally millions of meteors per hour were observed.

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The Moon will be near full phase in Pisces on the day of maximum at the shower’s peak, causing major interference all through the night. 

The Draconids are commonly recognized as a slower and paler shower. NASA explains that the faintness is due in part to the fact that they are very slow for meteors, travelling at around 40,000 mph.