Draconid Meteor Shower Peaks: See Them In NoVA, DC

WASHINGTON, DC — The Draconid meteor shower is the sleepiest celestial show of the year, usually offering only a handful of shooting stars an hour. But it's the one skygazers root and cheer for, perhaps in hopes of waking Draco the Dragon for a dazzling display. That's rare — and there is only a sliver of a chance that will happen during the 2018 peak on Sunday and Monday, Oct. 7-8 — but a new moon on the 9th guarantees the skies over northern Virginia and The District will be dark.

The Washington, D.C., metro weather forecast is pretty good for spotting shooting stars. Mostly cloudy skies on Saturday night give way to partly cloudy skies on Sunday and Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

The Draconids are the first of two meteor showers this month. The Orionids, which produce a more reliable shooting star show, peaks later in the month. They might produce a surprise this year — more about that in a bit.

The Draconids are such slow movers — crawling along, when compared with faster fireballs, at 40,000 miles per hour — and many burn out before they reach the Earth's atmosphere. In typical years, the Draconid meteor shower produce about five falling stars an hour, but when Draco spits fire — as occurred in 1946, when observers across the western United States reported seeing thousands of fireballs an hour. In 2011, the Draconids produced a moderate outburst.

The Draconids are faint, and the casual observer might not notice them. Because they move so slowly, only the largest produce enough light to be seen.

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Those Draconid outbursts seem to occur only when the Earth passes just inside the orbit of Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, the shower's parent, shortly after the comet itself goes by, according to Joe Rao, a skywatching columnist for Space.com. This year, that happened on Sept. 10, which some experts said could make for at least elevated levels of meteors.

The neat thing about this shower is the meteors start flying right after sunset, unlike most showers, which are most active around dawn. They'll continue to fly until around midnight. Sometimes called the Giacobinids, the Draconid meteor shower radiates from the fiery mouth of the northern constellation Draco the Dragon, which is highest in the sky at nightfall. The meteors seem to emit from Draco's fiery mouth.

SEE ALSO: Supermoons, Lunar Eclipse, Meteor Showers In Virginia, DC For 2018

Orionid Meteor Shower Peak

If the Draconids disappoint, the Orionids will also fire this month from the 16th through the 30th, with peak activity occurring on Oct. 20-21.

The Orionid meteor shower occurs when the Earth passes through streams of pebble-sized debris left behind by its parent, Halley's comet. They burn up when they hit the Earth's atmosphere and appear as shooting stars.

Some experts expect the Orionids to be better than average this year and produce more than the typical 10 or 15 meteors an our. On the downside, a waxing gibbous moon will create a glare that may blot out all but the brightest. You may be able to outlast the moon, though.

Earthsky.org suggests keeping your eyes peeled on the sky around midnight through dawn on Oct. 19-20, because there will be less moonlight as the moon sets — about four hours before sunrise on Saturday, Oct. 20, in mid-northern latitudes in North America, but only three hours before sunrise on Sunday, Oct. 21. You may even see a few on Oct. 22.

And here's an added treat — a fantastic view of Sirius, the brightest night-time star. Watch for it in the south in the predawn/dawn sky.

Also this month, you'll be able to gaze on four planets at dusk and nightfall throughout most of the month, though Venus, which lights up the western sky, dims as October rolls along. Jupiter shines directly overhead, and both Mars and Saturn glow in the southern sky at nightfall. Click the name of a planet to learn more about its visibility this month: Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and Mercury.

Written by Beth Dalbey, Patch; Photo via Shutterstock