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Sky watchers are ready to catch a glimpse of celestial fireworks Thursday night as Earth passes through a cloud of cometary dust.
The Draconid meteor shower, also known as the Giacobinids, will peak sometime during the night of October 8 and will be visible until the early morning of October 9.
Named after the constellation Draco the Dragon, the Draconids take place every year and is one of two meteor showers that light up the skies in October.
The stripes originate from Comet 21P / Giacobini-Zinner, which orbits the sun for six and a half years.
Anna Ross, an astronomer at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, said: “Most of this debris will burn at a height of about 80 km above the ground, so this is not a dangerous event.
“The number of meteors seen during the peak night varies quite a bit from year to year – typically there will only be 5 to 20 visible meteors per hour, but some years there have been reports of thousands per hour detected.”
The Draconids will be visible in North America, Europe and Asia until October 10.
Ms. Ross said: “For the best chance of spotting them, find a dark area of clear sky and wait about 20 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the darkness.
“You may also want to lie down, as you may be looking up for a long time.”
A second meteor shower, the Orionids, will also take place later this month, reaching its peak on October 22.
