Draconids Meteor Shower on 8 October 2011

What will happen?

Several studies predict that on 8 October 2011, Earth will encounter several trails of dust produced by comet 21P/Giacobini–Zinner in the late 19th and early 20th century. This is expected to cause a moderate enhancement in the meteor activity. The precise number of meteors is highly uncertain, but estimates suggest a peak level of up to 1 to 10 shooting stars per minute. Unfortunately, only 5 to 20% of these meteors will be visible because of the disturbing light from a nearly full moon, so observers are likely to see only 1 meteor per minute or less. However, the event is of great interest to scientists because it will help them understand how meteor showers form and evolve.

When will this be visible?

The meteor activity of the Draconids (DRA) is expected to be enhanced on 8 October 2011 between 16h00m and 21h00m Universal Time (UTC). Predictions suggest apeak of faint meteors around 20h00m (±30m) UTC, caused by dust produced by the comet in 1900 and 1907 AD. Earth previously encountered these dust trails in 1933 and 1946, producing strong meteor storms on those occasions. Such exceptional meteor activity is not expected this year, because the trails are now older and more dispersed. There could be additional peaks earlier in the evening, between 16h00m and 19h00m UTC, if the comet also produced dust before its discovery in 1900 AD. These meteors are likely to be brighter.

Use the table below to look up the local time in your time zone.

Time zone	Enhanced activity	Main peak?
Universal Time UTC (Casablanca, Dakar)	16h - 21h	~20h
West Europe (London, Dublin)	17h - 22h	~21h
West Africa (Algiers, Tunis, Lagos)	17h - 22h	~21h
Central Europe (Berlin, Paris, Rome)	18h - 23h	~22h
East Europe (Helsinki, Kiev, Istanbul)	19h - 24h	~23h
Russia (Moscow)	20h - 01h	~24h
Russia (Novosibirsk, Tomsk)	23h - 04h	~03h
India	21h30 - 02h30	below horizon
China	24h - 05h	below horizon
Japan	01h - 06h	below horizon
Americas	daylight	daylight

Where will this be visible?

The enhanced activity will be visible from Europe, North Africa and North/West Asia. The green areas in the maps below show the regions which will be dark (Sun 6 degrees below horizon) and oriented towards the dust trail (radiant above horizon) at 17h00m and 20h00m UTC on 8 October 2011. The event will not be visible outside these areas.

Map source code: plot_visibility_map.py (Python script)

Where should I look?

The meteors will appear to radiate from the constellation of Draco, which is located in the North-Western part of the sky from most locations. However, meteors may appear anywhere in the sky, so just look up!

Courtsey IMO.NET