October meteor showers light New Jersey skies; Draconids peak tonight

October brings two chances to catch meteors streaking across New Jersey skies, though neither will be a spectacular show. The Draconids arrive first, peaking tonight and tomorrow night, offering stargazers a brief window of opportunity that comes with a real advantage: the best viewing happens right after sunset, when most people are still awake and outdoors.

The Draconid shower runs from October 6 through October 10, but the peak arrives tonight. In Millburn, the sun sets at 6:29 p.m., and that's when Draco the Dragon—the constellation from which these meteors appear to radiate—stands highest in the sky. Expect a modest show: typically a handful of meteors per hour, nothing that will stop traffic, but enough to reward patience. The thin crescent moon won't wash out the fainter ones, which helps. The Draconids are produced by debris left behind by Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, which swings past the sun every 6.6 years, and sometimes the shower goes by the older name Giacobinids.

Historically, the Draconids can surprise. In 1933, observers in Europe saw 500 or more meteors an hour during what's called a meteor storm. In 1946, the United States witnessed between 50 and 100 per minute. Researchers at the University of Western Ontario predict similar outbursts could happen in 2025 and 2029, but this year's display should be routine—no storm forecast.

The second October opportunity is the Orionids, which run from October 2 all the way through November 7, but don't peak until the predawn hours of October 21. These meteors come from dust grains left behind by Halley's Comet and appear to radiate from the constellation Orion, though they can be spotted anywhere overhead. The Orionids produce about 20 meteors per hour at peak, and they're known for speed and occasional fireballs bright enough to cut through moonlight. The catch: the full moon arrives on October 20, right at the peak, which will dim all but the brightest streaks. Sunrise in Millburn on October 21 comes around 7:15 a.m., so you'll need to be out before dawn to catch them.

Beyond October, New Jersey skywatchers have several more showers to anticipate. The Taurids arrive in two waves—November 4-5 and November 11-12—producing only five to ten meteors an hour but rich in fireballs. The Leonids peak November 16-17, typically delivering about 15 per hour this year, though they're known for producing particularly bright ones that can pierce even bright moonlight. The Geminids, arriving December 13-14, rank among the year's best shows, capable of 50 to 120 multicolored meteors per hour, and they're prolific enough that a waxing gibbous moon won't spoil the display. Finally, the Ursids arrive around the winter solstice on December 21, usually modest at five to ten per hour, though capable of rare outbursts.

One more shower has captured attention this month: the newly discovered Finlay-id meteor shower, produced by Comet 15P/Finlay and peaking October 7. But there's a catch—it won't be visible from the Northern Hemisphere. The shower appears only over the Southern Ocean and the southernmost regions of Earth, where there's mostly water and little land. Diego Janches, a research astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, told Space.com that the Finlay-id is likely a one-time event. Even if it occurs again, it probably won't become an annual shower. A hidden pocket of dust from the comet might collide with Earth years from now, but no one knows when—or if—those meteors will ever return. That uncertainty makes it not only interesting but also extraordinarily difficult to observe, and it's a reminder that some celestial events are fleeting enough to be seen only once.