Meteor Activity Outlook for August 23-29, 2025

During this era, the moon reaches its new part on Saturday August twenty third. On that date will probably be situated close to the solar and will likely be invisible at night time. As the week progresses, the waxing crescent moon will enter the night sky and can solely barely hamper meteor observing through the night hours late within the week. The estimated whole hourly charges for night observers this weekend needs to be close to 4 as seen from mid-northern latitudes (45N) and three as seen from tropical southern areas (25S). For morning observers, the estimated whole hourly charges needs to be close to 18 as seen from mid-northern latitudes (45N) and 11 as seen from tropical southern areas (25S). The precise charges seen may also rely on elements similar to private gentle and movement notion, native climate situations, alertness, and expertise in watching meteor exercise. Evening charges are barely lowered throughout this era as a result of moonlight. Note that the hourly charges listed beneath are estimates as seen from darkish sky websites away from city gentle sources. Observers viewing from city areas will see much less exercise as solely the brighter meteors will likely be seen from such areas.

The radiant (the realm of the sky the place meteors seem to shoot from) positions and charges listed beneath are precise for Saturday night time/Sunday morning August 23/24. These positions don’t change enormously each day so the listed positions could also be used throughout this whole interval. Most star atlases (obtainable on-line and at bookstores and planetariums) will present maps with grid strains of the celestial coordinates so that you could be discover out precisely the place these positions are situated within the sky. I’ve additionally included charts of the sky that show the radiant positions for night, midnight, and morning. The heart of every chart is the sky immediately overhead on the acceptable hour. These charts are oriented for going through south however can be utilized for any route by rotating the charts to the specified route. A planisphere or pc planetarium program can also be helpful in exhibiting the sky at any time of night time on any date of the yr. Activity from every radiant is finest seen when it’s positioned highest within the sky (end result), both due north or south alongside the meridian, relying in your latitude. Radiants that rise after midnight won’t attain their highest level within the sky till daylight. For these radiants, it’s best to view them throughout the previous couple of hours earlier than daybreak. It have to be remembered that meteor exercise is never seen at its radiant place. Rather they shoot outwards from the radiant, so it’s best to heart your discipline of view in order that the radiant lies towards the sting and never the middle. Viewing there’ll permit you to simply hint the trail of every meteor again to the radiant (if it’s a bathe member) or in one other route whether it is sporadic. Meteor exercise just isn’t seen from radiants which are situated far beneath the horizon. The positions beneath are listed in a west to east method so as of proper ascension (celestial longitude). The positions listed first are situated additional west subsequently are accessible earlier within the night time whereas these listed additional down the record rise later within the night time.

 

These sources of meteoric exercise are anticipated to be lively this week

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The zeta Draconids (ZDR) had been found by Zdenek Sekanina in his examine of meteor streams utilizing radio strategies. This stream is lively from August 12-September 5 with most exercise occurring on August 26. The radiant is at the moment situated at 17:40 (265) +63, which locations it in southeastern Draco, 5 levels southeast of the three^rd magnitude star often called zeta Draconis. This radiant is finest positioned close to 20:00 native customary time (LST), when it lies on the meridian and is situated highest within the northern sky. With an entry velocity of twenty-two km/sec., the typical zeta Draconid meteor can be of medium-slow velocity. Rates this week are anticipated to be lower than 1 irrespective of your location. Due to the excessive northern declination these meteors are troublesome to watch from the southern hemisphere. This place is near that of the kappa Cygnid radiant so care needs to be taken to distinguish between these meteors. These meteors are synonymous with the August Draconids (AUD).

The kappa Cygnids (KCG) are lively from July 23-August 27, with most occurring on August 14^th. The radiant is at the moment situated at 19:24 (291) +58. This space of the sky is situated in excessive southeastern Draco, 5 levels north of the 4^th magnitude star often called kappa Cygni. To finest see these meteors face northward close to 2200 LST when it lies on the meridian and is situated highest within the sky. With a excessive northern declination, these meteors are troublesome to view from the southern hemisphere. Expected hourly charges this week are lower than 1 irrespective of your location. With an entry velocity of 24 km/sec., the typical meteor from this supply can be of medium-slow velocity.

The massive Anthelion (ANT) radiant is at the moment centered at 22:52 (343) -07. This place lies in central Aquarius, close to the spot occupied by the 4^th magnitude star often called lambda Aquarius. This radiant is finest positioned close to 01:00 LST when it lies on the meridian and is highest within the southern sky. Rates at the moment needs to be close to 3 irrespective of your location. With an entry velocity of 30 km/sec., the typical Anthelion meteor can be of medium-slow velocity.

The August beta Piscids (BPI) had been first talked about by Luigi G. Jacchia in his ebook The Moon, Meteorites and Comets. The BPI’s’s are lively from July 28-September 17, with the height occurring on the August twenty second. The radiant at the moment is situated close to 23:40 (355) +06. This space of the sky is situated in western Pisces close to the spot occupied by the 4th magnitude star often called iota Piscium. To finest see these meteors look within the southern sky close to 0300 LST, when it lies on the meridian and is situated highest within the sky. Hourly charges at the moment needs to be close to 1 irrespective of your location. With an entry velocity of 38m/sec., the typical meteor from this supply can be of medium velocity. These meteors are often known as the Northern delta Aquariids (NDA).

The eta Eridanids (ERI) are lively from a radiant close to 03:44 (056) -08. This place lies in northern Eridanus, 2 levels north of the 4^th magnitude star often called Rana (delta Eridani). This supply is lively till September 10^th. Current charges are anticipated to be lower than 1 per hour irrespective of your location. These meteors are finest seen over the last darkish hour previous to daybreak when the radiant lies highest above the southeastern horizon in a darkish sky. With an entry velocity of 64 km/sec., the typical meteor from this supply can be of swift pace.

The Perseids (PER) are lively from July 17 via August 29, with most exercise occurring on August 13. The radiant is at the moment situated at 04:20 (065) +60. This place lies in southwestern Camelopardalis, 5 levels west of the 4th magnitude star often called beta Camelopardalis. This space of the sky is finest positioned for viewing over the last darkish hour earlier than daybreak when it lies highest within the northeastern sky. Current charges are anticipated to be close to 1 as seen from the northern hemisphere and fewer than 1 as seen from south of the equator. With an entry velocity of 59 km/sec., the typical meteor from this supply can be of swift velocity. Viewers within the southern hemisphere have a restricted view of this bathe because the radiant solely rises simply earlier than daybreak.

The first members of the Aurigids (AUR) ought to seem on Friday morning August 27^th. These meteors are lively from August 29-September 2 with a peak on August 31^st. On the 29^th the radiant will likely be situated at 05:44 (086) +38. This place lies in central Auriga, 3 levels northwest of the third magnitude star often called Mahasim (theta Aurigae A). This space of the sky is finest positioned for viewing over the last darkish hour earlier than daybreak when it lies highest within the northeastern sky. Current charges are anticipated to be close to 1 as seen from the northern hemisphere and fewer than 1 as seen from south of the equator. With an entry velocity of 66 km/sec., the typical meteor from this supply can be of swift velocity.

Sporadic meteors are these meteors that can not be related to any identified meteor bathe. All meteor showers are evolving and disperse over time to the purpose the place they’re now not recognizable. Away from the peaks of the key annual showers, these sporadic meteors make up the majority of the exercise seen every night time. As seen from the mid-northern hemisphere (45N) one would anticipate to see throughout this era roughly 12 sporadic meteors per hour over the last hour earlier than daybreak as seen from rural observing websites. Evening charges can be close to 3 per hour. As seen from the tropical southern latitudes (25S), morning charges can be close to 7 per hour as seen from rural observing websites and a pair of per hour through the night hours. Locations between these two extremes would see exercise between these listed figures. Evening charges are barely lowered as a result of moonlight.

The record beneath presents data in tabular type of the lively showers that I really feel are inside attain of the visible observer to discern. Hourly charges are sometimes lower than one, so these sources are hardly ever listed as visible targets in most meteor bathe lists. If you’re like me and want to affiliate as many meteors as potential with identified sources, then you’ll recognize these listings. Before claiming to have seen meteors from these class IV showers, it’s best to try to find out if these meteors really belong to them and aren’t likelihood alignments of sporadic meteors. You can notice parameters similar to period, size, radiant distance and the elevation of every meteor to assist compute the likelihood of bathe affiliation.  It needs to be remembered that sluggish meteors might be seen from quick showers, however quick meteors can’t be produced from sluggish showers. Slower showers are these with velocities lower than 35/km per second. Slow meteors can seem from quick showers after they seem near the radiant or low within the sky. The desk situated on web page 22 of the IMO’s 2025 Meteor Shower Calendar is a giant assist in aiding within the identification of meteors. If you report the size and period of every meteor, you should utilize this chart to verify the likelihood of the meteor belonging to a bathe of identified velocity. If the angular velocity is much like the determine within the desk, then your meteor most likely belongs to that bathe. Recognizing meteors from obscure showers is actually not for the start meteor observer because it takes many hours to get a really feel of what you’re seeing. It is our hope that you’ll advance past watching meteors as a fireworks show and can wish to assist us broaden our data of the heavenly our bodies we encounter within the skies above by classifying every meteor you see. Rates and positions within the desk are precise for Saturday night time/Sunday morning.

 

SHOWER	DATE OF MAXIMUM ACTIVITY	CELESTIAL POSITION	ENTRY VELOCITY	CULMINATION	HOURLY RATE	CLASS
		RA (RA in Deg.) DEC	Km/Sec	Local Summer Time	North-South
zeta Draconids (ZDR)	Aug 26	17:40 (265) +63	22	21:00	<1 – <1	IV
kappa Cygnids (KCG)	Aug 14	19:24 (291) +58	24	23:00	<1 – <1	II
Anthelion (ANT)	–	22:52 (343) -07	30	02:00	3  –  3	II
August beta Piscids (BPI)	Aug 22	23:40 (355) +06	38	03:00	1  –  1	IV
eta Eridanids (ERI)	Aug 04	03:44 (056) -08	64	07:00	<1 – <1	II
Perseids (PER)	Aug 13	04:20 (065) +60	59	08:00	1 – <1	I
Aurigids (AUR)	Aug 31	05:44 (086) +38	66	09:00	1 – <1	III

You can hold observe of the exercise of those meteor showers in addition to these past the bounds of visible observing by visiting the NASA Meteor Shower Portal. You can transfer the sky globe to see totally different areas of the sky. Colored dots point out bathe meteors whereas white dots point out sporadic (random) exercise. The massive orange disk signifies the place of the solar so little exercise will likely be seen in that space of the sky.

Class Explanation: A scale to group meteor showers by their depth:

• Class I: the strongest annual showers with Zenith Hourly Rates usually ten or higher.
• Class II: dependable minor showers with ZHR’s usually two to 10.
• Class III: showers that don’t present annual exercise. These showers are hardly ever lively but have the potential to supply a significant show now and again.
• Class IV: weak minor showers with ZHR’s hardly ever exceeding two. The examine of those showers is finest left to skilled observers who use plotting and angular velocity estimates to find out bathe affiliation. These weak showers are additionally good targets for video and photographic work. Observers with much less expertise are urged to restrict their bathe associations to showers with a ranking of I to III.
  

Tags: Anthelion Meteors August beta Piscids August Meteor Activity August Meteor Showers Aurigids Eta Eridanids Kappa Cygnids Meteors Perseids Zeta Draconids