Meteor Showers of 2025

Imagine this: you’re sitting by a dying campfire, listening to the sound of distant coyotes and nearby crickets. The stars stretch above your head, moving at a slow and steady speed. Then something fast and out of place catches your eye. A fiery ember appears out of nowhere, quickly burns itself up, and leaves behind a smoky trail for seconds afterward. You know your camera off to the side caught it. Or maybe not, but it will catch the next one. During a meteor shower, nature’s fireworks happen not just once but hundreds of times. Unlike other astronomical events, this show can keep going all night long. And it doesn’t require any special equipment to observe. But it is important to time it right, have favorable weather, get away from light pollution, and avoid moonlight.

List

On this page I list the 10 best meteor showers of the year. Click each one to find detailed information, exact timing, pictures, star charts, and more. I plan to keep the articles updated throughout the year. Each one is given a star rating of 1-5 based on the moon phase for the year. (The Taurids don’t get a rating because they are unaffected by moonlight.) Some meteor showers have broad peaks and some last only hours. Each meteor stream has a different velocity, some are fast and some are slow. Moonlight or bad weather will hide some of them. But put these annual events on your calendar so you don’t miss the ones that are visible.

Name	Date	ZHR	2025 Rating
Quadrantids	aJanuary 3	120	★★★★★
Lyrids	bApril 22	18	★★★★☆
Eta Aquariids	cMay 4	30	★★★☆☆
Delta Aquariids	dJuly 30	25	★★★★☆
Perseids	eAugust 12	100	★★☆☆☆
Draconids	fOctober 8	10	★☆☆☆☆
Orionids	gOctober 23	20	★★★★★
Taurids	hOctober – November	5
Leonids	iNovember 17	15	★★★★★
Geminids	jDecember 13	150	★★★☆☆

About ZHR

Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) is a standardized way of estimating meteor numbers. But it makes several assumptions: absence of clouds, zero light pollution, no moon, radiant is at the zenith, and seen by an experienced observer. In reality all these perfect conditions are rarely met. Thus the actual meteor rates are almost always lower than the listed ZHR. The radiant of a meteor shower is seldom at the zenith during the peak, sometimes it’s only halfway up by the time dawn begins. There’s not much you can do about that. But you can see a better show by seeking out darker skies, good weather, and only watching top-tier meteor showers. Not every event will be spectacular. But it’s the thrill of possibly seeing something extraordinary that always keeps me hunting for meteors. Sometimes it only takes one to make your night.

Sporadic Meteors

Do you want to see meteors but it’s the wrong time of year? There are plenty more minor meteor showers that are not on this list. There are also sporadic meteors, which average 6 per hour. In fact 60% of all meteors throughout the year are sporadic. These can happen randomly at any time. They do have seasonal variations, averaging about 4 per hour in March, and 8 per hour in September. Just like most meteor showers, sporadics are more numerous in the early morning hours compared to the evening. Those that do fall in the evening are more likely to be Earth-grazers, which move slowly across the entire sky. But no matter what, the more time you spend under dark skies, the more you will see.

FAQ