Unlike most Meteor Showers, Draconids are short-lived. It will be active between October 6 and 10 , so we will not have many nights to enjoy it.
To see how many more the better , it is recommended to observe them at dusk and sunset, especially on Friday, October 8 (although we will also see some meteors the nights before and after this day).
Will the Moon be a problem?
Not fortunately. Our satellite enters the new moon phase on Wednesday, October 6, so its brightness will not be a problem for astronomical observation, since it will be imperceptible in the sky.
The Draconids are generated by the periodic comet 21 / P Giacobini-Zinner which, although not as famous as the Perseids, always guarantee a good show for astronomers.
One of the most striking characteristics of the Draconids is that they shine in the sky with great intensity . The radiant point of the meteor shower almost coincides with the head of the constellation Draco, the Dragon, in the northern sky, near the constellation Ursa Minor. You don’t have to locate this constellation to see the Draconids, of course. These meteors fly in all directions across the starry sky, but doing so is fun and relatively easy.
To see most meteors, the best place to look is not directly at the radiant itself, but at any dark part of the sky that is between 30 and 40 ° away.
As we say, the meteor shower is expected to peak at around 9:00 p.m. CEST on October 8 , 2021, so the best show could be seen after dark on October 8. The number of visible meteors will increase the higher the radiating point is in the sky.
The average number of meteors that we can see will be about 10 per hour, provided the conditions are right: dark and clear skies. However, recent years have seen increases in Draconid meteorites even with figures of up to 300 meteors per hour. They were fantastic years for observing 1933 and 1946 with rates of thousands of meteors per hour, but so were 1998, 2005, 2011 and 2012.
They are slow-moving meteors with an atmospheric entry velocity of 21 km / s. This year, thanks to the lack of moonlight, it could also be one of the best meteor showers to watch this year.
Meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through streams of debris left behind by comets and asteroids. Over time, the sand-shaped chunks of debris are distributed along the orbit of the main object around the solar system. Shooting stars are seen each time one of these debris fragments collides with Earth’s atmosphere, which typically burns at an altitude of around 70 to 100 km.
Remember that to see the Meteor Shower you do not need any sophisticated equipment. They are visible to the naked eye , so it may be a good time to introduce the youngest to the world of astronomy.
