How can I watch the Draconid Meteor Shower in Doncaster?

During tonight and tomorrow (October 8th-9th), the Draconid Meteor Shower will be clearly visible in the night sky. It’s expected to be visible until October 11th, but these two days will be when it is easiest to spot and admire.

While the annual meteor shower isn’t expected to be as bright as it has been in the past, it will still be viewable with the naked eye. As such, you won’t need a telescope or a pair of binoculars for this one – though there’s no harm in bringing them out with you if you’d like to.

Your best bet to see the shower is to find a field away from any large buildings or trees. So long as you have an expansive view of the sky and you’re away from any sources of light pollution, you should be able to view it.

This particular meteor shower is known for its spontaneity. It can produce just a few meteors over the course of an hour, but then hundreds may show up in just a few minutes. If this happens, make sure you don’t miss it!

The peak times for viewing the meteor shower are expected to be around 3am to 4am on October 8th, so make sure you’ve got an alarm set!

Using Dark Site Finder for reference, you can see that of the areas around Doncaster, the places with the least light pollution tend to be towards the south east, near Tickhill and Bircotes.

Due to there being a new moon just a few days ago, on October 6th, light pollution from the moon shouldn’t be too much of an issue. However, it may be a good idea to look for the meteor shower on October 8th rather than the 9th due to this.

The Draconid Meteor Shower originates from what is left of the 21 P/ Giacobini-Zinner comet, named after its discoverer, Michel Giacobini. It is called the “Draconid” meteor shower, as its point of origin is theorised to be around the Draco constellation.