Shower Name	Activity Period	Maximum Date/Time EST/EDST	Lunar phase near max.	Gramer's* Rating	Idealized Hourly Rate ("ZHR")	Typical Hourly Rate**
Quadrantids	Jan.. 1 - 5	Jan. 3, 12 pm		Very Strong	120	10
Virginids	Jan. 25 - Apr. 15	(Mar. 24)		Weak
Lyrids	Apr. 16 - Apr. 25	Apr. 22, 7am		Medium to Strong	15	7
Eta-Aquarids	Apr. 19 - May 28	May 5, 3 am		Strong to Very Strong	40	6
Sagittarids	Apr. 15 - July 15	(May 19)		Weak
Southern Delta-Aquarids	July 12 - Aug. 19	July 28, 12 am		Strong	20	7
Perseids	July 17 - Aug. 24	Aug. 12, 10 am		Very Strong	120	20
Alpha-Aurigids	Aug. 25 - Sept. 5	Aug. 31		Medium
Delta-Aurigids	Sept. 5 - Oct. 10	Sept. 8		Weak
Draconids	Oct. 6 - 10	Oct. 8		Very Weak to Very Strong
Orionids	Oct. 2 - Nov. 7	Oct. 21, 7 pm		Strong	25	10
Southern Taurids	Oct. 1 - Nov. 25	Nov. 3, 2 am		Weak	10	6
Northern Taurids	Oct. 1 - Nov. 25	Nov. 12		Weak	10	6
Leonids	Nov. 14 - 21	Nov. 19, 2 am		Strong to Very Strong	15	10
Alpha-Monocerotids	Nov. 15 - 25	Nov. 21		Usually Weak
Geminids	Dec. 7 - 17	Dec. 13, 8 pm		Very Strong	85	35
Coma Berenicids	Dec. 12 - Jan. 23	Dec. 19		Weak
Ursids	Dec. 17 - 26	Dec. 22		Medium	20	5

• Notes:

Major Showers are named in bold.
Dates in parenthesis are uncertain or variable.
Peaks in parenthesis show showers with diffuse activity profiles.
Peak hour given when available.  Some peaks occur in daylight hours, Eastern Time.  Remember,
       the Cosmos does not necessarily favor the East Coast of the USA!

*   Source:  Lew Gramer’s Meteor page
** Example based on a moonless night in suburban skies.  Source: American Meteor Society

• Key to Lunar phase icons

Phase	Symbol	Moon's approx. age (days)	Likely interference for late evening observation	Phase	Symbol	Moon's approx. age (days)	Likely interference for late evening observation
New Moon		0	None	Full Moon		15	High
Waxing Crescent		4	None	Waning Gibbous		18	None before about 9 pm, then High
First Quarter		7	Moderate, then none after midnight	Last Quarter		22	None until midnight, then Moderate
Waxing Gibbous		11	High until nearly dawn	Waning Crescent		26	None

• Useful Web sites
  • American Meteor Society http://www.amsmeteors.org/showers.html
  • International Meteor Organization  http://www.amsmeteors.org/imo-mirror/calendar/cal03.html
  • Lew Gramer’s Meteor Page http://www.meteorobs.org/
  • NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory meteor table http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/meteor_streams.html
  • NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center meteor observing advice and table for 2003 http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/space/solarsystem/meteors/Observing.html
  • Observing meteors by audio, using ordinary radios and other equipment - American Meteor Society http://www.amsmeteors.org/radmet.html

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rev. 8/19/06