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Meteor Shower

Meteor shower guides

What doesn't change from shower to shower — how to watch, when to look, where to go — written once, properly.

  1. How to Watch a Meteor Shower: A Complete Field Guidestart here

    Where to look, how long your eyes need to adapt, what to bring, and how many meteors to expect from a city, a suburb or a dark site. A practical field guide.

  2. What Causes Meteor Showers? Comets, Debris and the Radiant

    A meteor shower is Earth crossing a comet's debris stream at the same point of its orbit each year. Meteors vs. meteorites, the radiant, and changing rates.

  3. Best Time to See Meteor Showers: Hours, Moon and Season

    Why the hours before dawn beat the evening, how the moon's phase and timing decide a peak night, and how season and latitude change which showers you get.

  4. How to Find Dark Skies: Bortle Scale, Maps and Distance

    How light pollution cuts your meteor count, how to read the Bortle scale and light-pollution maps, how far from a city to go, and how to pick a safe spot.

  5. What Is ZHR? Zenithal Hourly Rate and Real Meteor Counts

    ZHR is a shower's rate under ideal conditions, not a forecast. What the zenithal hourly rate measures, why you see fewer, and how to estimate your count.

  6. How to Photograph a Meteor Shower: Settings and Workflow

    Lens, aperture, ISO and exposure settings for meteors, how to focus in the dark, where to aim relative to the radiant, and how to build an honest composite.

Last updated October 13, 2026.