Every year in late August, our Earth passes through the debris of ice and dust left behind by the comet C/1911 N1 (Kiess) in space, creating the Aurigid meteor shower.
Aurigid meteor shower in 2025
Activity period: The Aurigid meteor shower will be active from August 29 to September 2 in 2025.
Peak activity: The Aurigid meteor shower will peak on the night of August 31-September 1 in 2025.
When to see: The Aurigid meteor shower will be best visible in the pre-dawn hours of September 1, 2025, as its radiant (the point from where the shower radiates in the sky) rises around midnight and reaches its highest point in the sky in the morning.
You won’t see the Aurigid meteor shower until midnight, as the shower’s radiant will be located below the horizon.
Moon phase during peak activity: The moon will be in the first quarter phase and 53% illuminated during peak activity. As the first quarter moon sets around midnight, the moonlight will not interfere with the Aurigids in 2025.
Expected meteors during peak activity: The Aurigids are a modest shower, producing around 6 meteors per hour during peak activity under ideal conditions.
Where to look: The Aurigid meteor shower radiates from near the bright star Capella in the constellation Auriga, the Charioteer. Look high in the eastern sky in the pre-dawn hours to identify Capella.
Capella is the brightest star in the constellation Auriga and the sixth brightest star in the night sky. It is easily noticeable in the night sky, even from light-polluted areas.
Visibility of the shower: The Aurigid meteor shower will be favorable to observers in the Northern Hemisphere, especially those located in the high-northern latitudes (from 40°N to 60°N).
Observers located in the high-northern latitudes will see an excellent display of the shower, where the radiant reaches more than 50° altitude in the pre-dawn hours.
The Aurigid meteor shower will not be visible from the southern hemisphere, where the radiant never rises much above the horizon.
Meteor velocity: Aurigid meteors enter the Earth’s atmosphere at about 67 km/s (241,200 km/h), which is very close to the maximum attainable velocity of 72 km/s, so they appear very swift.
How the Aurigid meteor shower got its name
Meteor showers are usually named after a constellation in which the radiant lies during peak activity or after a bright star closest to the radiant.
The Aurigid meteor shower got its name from the constellation Auriga, as the shower’s radiant is located in the constellation Auriga during peak activity.
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