Draconid meteor shower set to light up the sky this weekend

An exciting meteor shower is set to light up the skies in the northern hemisphere this weekend as autumn closes in.

Every year in October, as summer appears a distant memory and the leaves begin to fall and nights start to get darker earlier, there is always one other thing that can be guaranteed and that is a meteor shower which happens around about the same time.

This yearly shower is called the Draconid and it is a shower of stars, or in better words, meteors which fall through the sky every October when this happens, people know it is time for autumn and winter nights to start kicking in.

The Draconid is formed up of fragments from comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner and the star reportedly takes, on average, 6.621 years to circle the sun and slowly start to approach planet Earth, making it visible for us humans to see.

How is this Draconid meteor shower formed?

These stunning sights are said to be caused when the Earth travels through a cloud of debris from a comet and that is where the above-mentioned 21p/Giacobini-Zinner comes into play as that’s which cloud Earth will indeed pass through.

It’s being reported that only 10 shooting stars are expected every hour when the Draconid shower is at its peak, and obviously, these will be best seen from sunset onwards as the skies start to get darker and the moon takes over from the sun, so it will be an evening viewing for everyone.

There is no set number or guarantee to the number of shooting stars that will be on show over the weekend and does indeed depend on the path Earth takes as it passes through this massive cloud of debris in outer space.

How best to view this Draconid shower

For the best possible views, people are being advised to keep a keen eye out in the skies Sunday night in particular, but Saturday will also have decent enough viewing. It’s believed that these sights could well be seen by the naked eye, although telescopes would be a help.

Something that is essential to get the best view of this amazing event is clear and cloud-free skies, otherwise, people will have a hard time seeing through them as the night draws in.

This will obviously differ from where you are watching out from, but if you do indeed get clear skies this weekend then when the sun has fully set, be sure to take a look up into the skies and take it all in.

If you manage to capture any special images, videos, and moments of this amazing meteor shower, be sure to send them to Euro Weekly News and tag us on Facebook and Twitter.