Daytime Sextantid Meteor Shower

By Astro-Observer · Last reviewed November 8, 2026

Active

September 20 – October 6

Peak

Around October 1

Peak rate (ZHR)

5 (mostly detected by radio)

Radiant

Sextans (10h 24m, −2°)

Speed

32 km/s (medium)

Parent asteroid

(155140) 2005 UD

Best seen from

Both hemispheres (mainly by radio)

Best time

The hour before dawn

Next peaks

Expected peak (UTC)	Moon at peak	Moonlight
October 1, 2027, around 19h	Waxing crescent, 4% lit	Little or none
October 1, 2028, around 1h	Waxing gibbous, 94% lit	Bright Moon

Radar measurements show a broad plateau of activity from about September 29 to October 2 rather than a sharp peak, so any morning in that span is about as good as the listed date.

Computed from the shower's peak solar longitude (λ☉ 188°). Real peaks can come a few hours early or late, and you will see meteors on the nights either side. The peak hour may be in daylight where you are; watch the darkest hours of the nearest night.

The Daytime Sextantids are active mostly while the Sun is up. Their radiant is only about 30 degrees from the Sun, so most of the meteors arrive in daylight, where only radio and radar detect them. Before dawn around October 1 you may catch one or two low in the east.

Where the meteors come from

The IAU Meteor Data Center lists the asteroid (155140) 2005 UD as the parent; IMO does not name one. The shower is related to the Geminids and their parent, the asteroid 3200 Phaethon: its meteors burn up the way Geminids do, a sign of dense grains. A recent radar study suggests the stream, 2005 UD and Phaethon all came from one breakup.

When to watch

The shower is active from September 20 to October 6 and peaks around October 1; the table above gives the expected peak time, but here the hour of dawn matters most. The radiant rises only about two hours before the Sun, which leaves just the last hour of darkness for watching by eye.

How to find the radiant

The radiant is in faint Sextans, about 14 degrees south of Regulus, the bright star at the base of Leo's backward question mark. As they rise in the east before dawn, it sits below Regulus and slightly to the right. From mid-northern latitudes it is less than 15 degrees up when dawn begins; the view is similar from the south.

What to expect

Visually, very little. With a ZHR of about 5 and the radiant this low, you may see one in the hour before dawn, and on many mornings none. They are medium-speed: long, shallow streaks rising from the east. Radar studies put the peak at about 20 an hour, nearly all in daylight.

Viewing tips

Choose a site with a low, dark eastern horizon.
Be in place two hours before sunrise and watch until the sky brightens.
In the shower's last days, also watch for the first Orionids, which begin on October 2 and whose radiant is high in the south at dawn.
Listening by radio for meteor echoes is the best way to follow this shower.

History and notable displays

Weiss first detected the shower in 1957, in a two-year radio survey published in 1960. A 2022 study of more than 19,000 radar-measured orbits refined its activity period and its ties to the Geminids.

About the numbers. The ZHR (zenithal hourly rate) is how many meteors one observer would see in an hour under a perfectly dark sky with the radiant straight overhead. Real counts are almost always lower: under suburban skies, or with the radiant low, expect a half to a quarter of it, or less.