Get ready to witness the meteor showers of Summer 2024! This guide will provide you with all the essential details, including peak dates, best viewing times, and expert tips to ensure you have an unforgettable stargazing experience. Especially if this is your first time chasing shooting stars, there are a few things to prepare for.
Note: This article is written for readers in the Northern Hemisphere.
The most important meteor showers of summer 2024
Meteor showers recur each year around the same dates, which makes it easy for you to prepare for this celestial event. Currently, there are 110 reccuring meteor showers identified and named. They are spread throughout the entire year, but there are three major showers you should note to enjoy during the warm summer nights.
Delta Aquariids 🌠 (~18 July – 21 August)
| Peak dates: | 28-31 July |
| Radiant point*: | Constellation Aquarius |
| Best time to view: | For stargazers in the Northern Hemisphere, watch to the Southern horizon, few hours before midnight to a few hours after |
| Best place to view: | Southern Hemisphere |
| Expected rates: | ~15-20 per hour |
| Moon phases: | Full Moon 21 July & 19 August |
Perseids 🌠 (~17 July – 24 August)
| Peak dates: | 12-13 August |
| Radiant point*: | Constellation Perseus |
| Best time to view: | Midnight until ~5:30am |
| Best place to view: | Visible everywhere, find a dark place and look north |
| Expected rates: | ~100 per hour |
| Moon phases: | Full Moon 21 July & 19 August |
*The radiant point is the point in the sky from which the meteors appear to originate. This point is named after the constellation in which it is located.
Tips and tricks: How to watch meteor showers
In theory, hunting for shooting stars is easy. You just need to go outside and watch upwards in the sky. However, there are a few tips to not only make your stargazing trip more successful, but also more enjoyable.
First: ensure darkness and an open view. Light pollution very quickly eliminates your chances of seeing a shooting star, so plan to find an area outside of the city with as much darkness as possible. Parks, rural areas, designated dark sky areas, fields. Also make sure no trees or buildings obstruct your view. Additionally, check the weather reports so there are no clouds in this area.
Second: Get food & something to lay on. You will most likely spend several hours outside. So make sure your clothing is appropriate, you have snacks and beverages, and also prepare something to lay down. Tilting your neck upwards becomes very tiring and painful quickly, so best observe the stars in a sleeping bag or deckchair.
Some additional tips:
- Check if there is a public meteor shower gazing event nearby – often deckchairs etc. are provided by the local observatory
- Bring blankets, reclining chairs, binoculars
- Bring a flashlight to navigate to your viewing spot – best is a red filtered flashlight
- Your eyes need to adjust to darkness and you can see better and better over time
- Avoid looking on your phone, or else your eyes readjust to the brightness again
- Consider using red light mode on your phone or astronomy apps with night mode
- Try to find an elevated spot since there is a better view
- Keep a meteor log to track
- Watch for at least an hour
- Make sure you’re as comfortable as possible
What is a meteor and a meteor shower?
Explanation of how meteor showers occur
Meteor showers occur when Earth passes through a stream of debris left behind by a comet or, occasionally, an asteroid. As our planet travels along its orbit around the Sun, it encounters these tiny particles, which burn up upon entering Earth’s atmosphere, creating bright streaks of light in the sky known as meteors. This celestial event typically happens at the same time each year when Earth crosses the same debris stream, leading to predictable and recurring meteor showers.
Most meteor showers are caused by debris from comets. Comets are icy bodies that release gas and dust as they approach the Sun. This material spreads out along the comet’s orbit, forming a stream of particles. When Earth crosses this stream, the particles collide with our atmosphere, creating a meteor shower. Some meteor showers, however, originate from asteroid fragments. These are usually less frequent but can still create spectacular displays.
Difference between meteors, meteoroids, and meteorites
Meteoroids: Small rocks or particles that are still in space, usually ranging in size from a grain of sand to a boulder.
Meteors: When meteoroids enter Earth’s atmosphere, they burn up due to friction with the air, creating a visible streak of light like a fire ball called a meteor or a shooting star.
Meteorites: If a meteoroid is large enough to survive its fiery passage through the atmosphere and reaches the Earth’s surface, it is called a meteorite. Meteorites can provide valuable scientific information about the composition of other celestial bodies.
M16 Nebula 
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