Astro-Observer

Meteor showers

October Camelopardalid Meteor Shower

By Astro-Observer · Last reviewed November 8, 2026

Active
October 5 – October 6
Peak
Around October 5–6
Peak rate (ZHR)
5 (uncertain)
Radiant
Camelopardalis (10h 56m, +79°)
Speed
47 km/s (medium)
Best seen from
Northern Hemisphere
Best time
All night, best in the hours before dawn

Next peaks

Expected peak (UTC)Moon at peakMoonlight
October 6, 2027, around 10h Waxing crescent, 40% lit Some
October 5, 2028, around 16h Waning gibbous, 96% lit Bright Moon

Computed from the shower's peak solar longitude (λ☉ 192.58°). 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 October Camelopardalids are one of the year's shortest showers, active for about a day around October 5–6. Their radiant is close to the North Star, so from mid-northern latitudes it never sets. Rates are low, with occasional short outbursts of bright meteors.

Where the meteors come from

The parent is unknown. The meteoroids move on an orbit tilted nearly 80 degrees to Earth's, at a speed that points to a comet on a very long orbit. Astronomers think the stream is a narrow dust trail from such a comet, which Earth crosses in a few hours.

When to watch

Activity is limited to October 5 and 6. Check the peak hour and Moon in the table above: if the peak falls in your night, watch the hours around it; if not, rates will be very low. From mid-northern latitudes the radiant is about 30 degrees up in the late evening and about 45 degrees by dawn.

How to find the radiant

The radiant is about 11 degrees from Polaris, on the Camelopardalis–Draco border. (By the official boundaries it falls just inside Draco.) Follow the Big Dipper's pointer stars, Merak and Dubhe, to Polaris. The radiant is on that line, a little more than a third of the way back toward Dubhe. It cannot be seen from most of the Southern Hemisphere.

What to expect

The ZHR of about 5 is uncertain. Near the peak you might see one to three an hour from a dark site and hardly any from the suburbs. The meteors are medium-speed, and the outburst that revealed the shower was made up of bright ones, some brighter than Venus.

Viewing tips

  • Plan around the peak hour; this shower is easy to miss by a few hours.
  • Face north and look about halfway up.
  • Dress for a cool October night.
  • The much slower Draconids begin on October 6, also from the northern sky.

History and notable displays

Video cameras in Finland and Germany caught the first confirmed outburst on October 5, 2005, when 12 of 19 bright meteors on one camera came from the new radiant. Reports from 1902, 1942, 1976 and the early 1990s had hinted at activity on that date. Esko Lyytinen predicted another outburst for October 5, 2016, which cameras and radio observers confirmed.

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.

Sources

Checked November 8, 2026.