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Meteor shower · July

Alpha Capricornids 2026

A low-rate summer shower known for slow, bright fireballs, visible from both hemispheres.

Peak nightJul 29–30
Rate at peakup to ~3/hour
Moon at peak100% · sets 05:58
Best time from London00:00–02:15
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The Alpha Capricornids from London

Times for London, United Kingdom

On the night of Jul 29–30, the radiant climbs to 29° in the south while it’s dark in London. A 100%-lit Moon is up through the best hours, and its light will hide the fainter meteors. The best window here is about 00:00–02:15.

  1. 19:36Radiant rises
  2. 21:07Moon rises, 100% lit
  3. 23:51Astronomical darkness begins
  4. 00:00Best window begins (moonlit)
  5. 00:50Radiant highest, 29° up
  6. 02:23Dawn twilight begins
  7. 05:58Moon sets
0°30°60°90°18:0021:0000:0003:0006:00RadiantMoon (100%)
Meteors can appear anywhere in the sky. Traced backward, their trails meet at the radiant; the higher it is, the more you’ll see.

How to watch

Unlike most showers, the radiant is already up in the evening and highest around midnight, so you don’t need to stay up until dawn. Expect a few meteors an hour at best.

The radiant is in Capricornus, well placed around midnight. Up to about 3 meteors an hour at the peak under ideal skies (the zenithal hourly rate). The shower is active from about 12 Jul to 7 Aug.

Get as far from streetlights as you can and give your eyes at least 20 minutes to adjust to the dark. Every glance at a bright phone screen resets that, so keep it away or use a red night mode.

Lie back on a reclining chair or a mat and take in as much sky as possible, looking about halfway up rather than straight at the radiant. Meteors can appear anywhere; the ones far from the radiant have longer trails.

You need no equipment. Binoculars and telescopes show only a tiny patch of sky, so they make you miss meteors. Dress warmly, even in summer, and plan to watch for at least an hour: meteors come in clumps and lulls.

Where do they come from?

The Alpha Capricornids come from Comet 169P/NEAT, which may be a fragment of a larger comet that broke apart thousands of years ago.

Slow meteors and bright fireballs; only a few an hour, but they can be spectacular.

Active
12 Jul – 7 Aug
Peak
around 30 Jul 2026
Rate at peak (ZHR)
~3 per hour
Speed
22 km/s
Parent body
Comet 169P/NEAT
Radiant
Capricornus

Calendar

Every major shower’s peak in 2026. Dates are approximate (±1 day) and given in UTC.

Questions

Why are Alpha Capricornids so slow?
Their stream travels in nearly the same direction as Earth, so they catch up with our atmosphere at only about 22 km/s.
How many meteors will I really see?
Fewer than the peak rate. The zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) assumes a perfectly dark sky with the radiant straight overhead. With some light pollution, moonlight or a low radiant, a fraction of that is typical.
What is the radiant?
The point in the sky the meteors seem to come from. It’s a perspective effect: the dust travels in parallel paths, like snowflakes seen from a moving car. The higher the radiant, the more meteors you see.
Do I need a telescope or binoculars?
No. Your eyes are best because meteors can appear anywhere in the sky. Optical aid narrows your view far too much.
Know the best hour for your sky.SkyMate can remind you when the radiant is up and the sky is dark where you are.Join the waitlist

Sources: Global Meteor Network (activity and peak solar longitudes, CC BY 4.0); Moorhead, Clements & Vida 2022 (radiants and speeds, CC BY 4.0); NASA Meteoroid Environment Office (typical peak rates; no NASA endorsement implied). Peak dates and positions computed by SkyMate. Data & Licences

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