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Meteors & Comets

Last updated: 2026-09-21

What it does

Shows which of the 12 major annual meteor showers are active on a date and whether each one's radiant is visible from your location, and lists upcoming comet apparitions with their expected peak brightness.

What you need

  • For meteor showers, a location is optional. Without one, the lists still show each shower's peak date and rate, but not tonight's visibility. Set it with the Location picker.
  • For comets, no location.
  • No network. The shower and comet data is built into the app, so the tool works offline.

How to use it

  1. In Object Type, choose Meteor Showers or Comets.
  2. Meteor Showers: set your location, then pick a date in the Date card. Use the step buttons to move by days, weeks, or months, and Today to return to today.
  3. Read Current Showers for what is active on that date, or All 12 Major Showers for the full year, sorted by peak date.
  4. Comets: read the Upcoming Comets card. It lists every comet in the app's data whose closest approach to the Sun has not yet passed, soonest first.

Reading the results

  • Current Showers: each row shows the shower name, its ZHR (zenithal hourly rate, the most meteors you could expect per hour under ideal dark skies), and its peak date. With a location set, it also shows the time window when the radiant is up and the Moon is not in the way, plus the Moon's illumination.
  • Eye icon on a shower row: an open eye means a clear viewing window of two hours or more, an eye with a minus sign means a shorter window, and a crossed-out eye means not visible tonight. With no location, there is no icon.
  • "Radiant not visible tonight" or "No clear window": the radiant never rises, or moonlight or daylight leaves no usable time.
  • Comet rows: the comet's designation and name, its Perihelion date (closest to the Sun, usually near its brightest), est. mag (expected peak brightness as an apparent magnitude, where lower is brighter), the orbit (years for periodic comets, or "long-period"), and a short viewing note.

Tips

  • Predicted comet magnitudes are estimates. Comets can fizzle below forecast or outburst above it.
  • The comet list does not compute whether a comet is visible from your location, so check sky conditions and position separately.
  • A bright Moon washes out fainter meteors. Compare the Moon illumination shown on each row.
  • Shoot Forecast shows active showers and the next comet together on its Meteors & Comets card.
  • The old Comet Tracker address opens this tool's Comets view.