Meteor Showers To Peak In NJ On Friday: Here’s What To Know

NEW JERSEY - Mother Nature's first major light show of autumn will peak over New Jersey skies on Friday. It’ll be the first of many this year, forecasters predict.

New Jersey residents will best be able to view the Draconid meteor on Oct. 8 — if the weather is relatively cloud-free, that is. Partly cloudy skies expected tonight could obscure some of the prime time viewing hours, according to AccuWeather.

The shower favors early-evening viewing around dusk because that's when Draco the Dragon, the head of the constellation that is the shower's radiant point, stands highest in the sky.
Given its anticipated evening viewing time, the Draconids is a rare treat for younger stargazers and those who cannot stay up late at night. Most meteor showers don’t peak until the wee hours of the morning.

Want to see some meteors? October's short-lived Draconid meteor shower - sometimes called the Giacobinids - is expected to peak at nightfall or early evening on October 8, 2021. ☄️🌌

Find out more about the Draconids and how to see them: https://t.co/bBq3elHBDL pic.twitter.com/Ebkgde0ZDa
— EarthSky (@earthskyscience) October 8, 2021

The shower is sometimes called the Giacobinids because it's produced by the Earth passing through the ice and rock debris left behind by Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner. That fractured comet orbits the sun about every 6.6 years.

Draconids are known for incidental outbursts, when viewers can witness over 100 meteors in an hour. Per AccuWeather, around five to 10 shooting stars per hour are predicted with the next outburst (which isn’t likely until 2025). The most notable outburst occurred in 1933, when 500 or more Draconid meteors were seen an hour in Europe. In 1946, between 50 and 100 Draconids were seen per minute in the United States, according to NASA.

The last meteor shower to traverse Garden State skies was the Perseids, which peaked in August. The next meteor shower is the Orionid, which is slated to peak later in October.

With reporting by Justin Heinze.