Drag the day slider (or pick a shower from the list) to move Earth around the calendar dial to any day of the year and see which of the 12 major annual meteor showers is at or near its peak - each marker sits at its real published peak date, sized by how strong that shower is.
Blue markers trace back to a comet; orange markers trace back to an asteroid - only the Quadrantids and the Geminids fall in that second group. A marker turns bright yellow and grows when the current day falls inside that shower's published activity window.
Drag to orbit and scroll or pinch to zoom. The ring is a compressed, not-to-scale calendar dial standing in for Earth's yearly trip around the Sun - it exists to place each shower's real peak date on one dial, not to model the actual orbit shape.
Annual Meteor Shower Calendar 3D Explorer
Twelve major meteor showers return every year, each with a published peak date and strength. This 3D calendar dial places all twelve on one ring, so you can see at a glance which shower is active right now, which is next, and how the year's showers compare - without twelve separate articles.
Drag the day slider to move Earth around the dial to any day of the year, or pick a shower by name from the list to jump straight to its peak. The marker for each shower sits at its real published peak date; its size reflects its zenith hourly rate (ZHR), the number of meteors a dark-sky observer could expect per hour with the radiant directly overhead.
- All 12 major annual showers on one calendar dial - Quadrantids, Lyrids, Eta Aquariids, Southern delta Aquariids, Perseids, Draconids, Orionids, Southern Taurids, Northern Taurids, Leonids, Geminids, Ursids
- Each marker positioned at its real published peak date and sized by its zenith hourly rate (ZHR)
- Markers turn bright yellow and grow when the current day falls inside that shower's published activity window
- Marker color shows the parent body type at a glance - blue for comet-linked showers, orange for the two asteroid-linked exceptions (Quadrantids and Geminids)
- "Jump to today" uses your device's current date; "Play through the year" advances the dial on its own
- Facts panel with the peak date, ZHR, radiant, parent body, and a notable historical fact for whichever shower is selected
- Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom; runs fully in the browser with the vendored three.js engine - no account, no upload
| Shower | Peak date | ZHR | Parent body |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quadrantids | Jan 3-4 | 120 | Asteroid 2003 EH1 |
| Lyrids | Apr 22-23 | 18 | Comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher) |
| Eta Aquariids | May 5-6 | 50 | Comet 1P/Halley |
| Southern delta Aquariids | Jul 30-31 | 25 | suspected Comet 96P/Machholz |
| Perseids | Aug 12-13 | 100 | Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle |
| Draconids | Oct 8-9 | about 5 (typical year) | Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner |
| Orionids | Oct 21-22 | 20 | Comet 1P/Halley |
| Southern Taurids | Nov 4-5 | 5 | Comet 2P/Encke |
| Northern Taurids | Nov 11-12 | 5 | Comet 2P/Encke complex |
| Leonids | Nov 16-17 | 15 | Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle |
| Geminids | Dec 13-14 | 150 | Asteroid 3200 Phaethon |
| Ursids | Dec 21-22 | 10 | Comet 8P/Tuttle |
Why two showers point back to an asteroid, not a comet
Most meteor showers form when Earth crosses the dusty trail a comet leaves behind on each pass near the Sun - the Eta Aquariids and the Orionids even share the same parent, Halley's Comet, six months apart on opposite sides of the calendar dial. The Quadrantids and the Geminids are the two well-known exceptions: their trails trace back to a near-Earth asteroid (2003 EH1 and 3200 Phaethon), a real and still-studied puzzle about how a rocky body sheds a comet-like debris stream.
Quiet most years, dramatic in a few
Most showers stay quiet at their typical ZHR every single year, but a few have turned dramatic without warning. The Draconids usually produce only a handful of meteors an hour, then surprised observers with full storms in 1933 and 1946 and an outburst above ZHR 100 on the night of October 8-9, 2018. The Leonids did the same on a bigger scale, producing thousands of meteors per hour during the storms of 1833, 1966, and 2001. For the geometry behind why any shower's meteors all seem to stream from one point in the sky, see the Meteor Shower Radiant 3D Explorer - that page explains the Perseids and Leonids radiant in detail; this page is the calendar of when to look for all twelve.
Everything renders on your device with WebGL. The 3D engine loads once (about 0.7 MB) and is cached, and nothing about your visit is sent to a server.
This is an educational calendar dial, not a physical simulation: the ring is a compressed, not-to-scale stand-in for Earth's yearly orbit (drawn as a perfect circle for legibility), and it exists only to place each shower's real published peak date and activity window on one dial. The dates, rates, parent bodies, and historical outbursts shown are real published figures, cross-checked against the IMO meteor shower calendar; where IMO's public calendar does not list an activity window (the Draconids), this page shows only the peak date rather than inventing a range.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which meteor shower is active right now?
Press "Jump to today" to move the dial to your device's current date - the info panel lists every shower whose published activity window covers that day, or tells you when none of the 12 major showers are active.
What does ZHR mean?
Zenith hourly rate: the number of meteors a single observer under a dark, moonless sky could expect to see per hour if the shower's radiant were directly overhead. It is the standard strength figure the International Meteor Organization publishes for each shower.
Why are the Quadrantids and Geminids orange instead of blue?
Every other shower on the dial traces back to a comet's dust trail. The Quadrantids (asteroid 2003 EH1) and the Geminids (asteroid 3200 Phaethon) are the two well-documented exceptions whose debris trail comes from an asteroid instead, so this page marks them in a different color.
Why does the Draconids marker not turn yellow across a wide date range?
The International Meteor Organization's public calendar does not publish an activity window for the Draconids, only a peak date - it is a narrow, highly variable stream. Rather than invent a range, this page marks the Draconids active only within about a day and a half of its published Oct 8-9 peak.
Is the ring showing Earth's real orbit shape?
No. The ring is a compressed, not-to-scale calendar dial - a perfect circle for legibility - used only to place each shower's real peak date at the correct position in the year. It is not a model of Earth's actual elliptical orbit or of any meteoroid stream's real shape.
Is this the same as the Meteor Shower Radiant explorer?
No. The Meteor Shower Radiant 3D Explorer explains why one shower's meteors (the Perseids and Leonids) appear to stream from a single point in the sky. This page is a calendar covering all 12 major annual showers, showing when each one peaks and how strong it is - it has no sky-radiant geometry at all.
Can two showers really be active at the same time?
Yes. The Southern delta Aquariids (Jul 12-Aug 23) and the Perseids (Jul 17-Aug 24) overlap for most of their runs, and the Southern Taurids (Sep 20-Nov 20) overlap the Northern Taurids (Oct 20-Dec 10) for weeks, since both Taurid showers share the same parent debris complex.
Is this a full physics simulator?
No. It is an educational calendar dial built from each shower's real published peak date, activity window, and rate. The dial's ring shape, Earth's smooth motion around it, and the Sun's size are simplified for legibility, not modeled as a physical simulation.