Draconid meteors will light up evening skies

A meteor shower will peak this weekend, giving stargazers a chance to see dozens of shooting stars streaking across the sky.

The Draconid meteor shower, also known as the Giacobinids, takes place every year and is one of the two meteor showers to light up the skies in October.

The streaks spawn from the comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, which orbits around the sun for six-and-ahalf years.

Over the weekend, the Earth will pass through a swarm of debris left in the comet’s wake, leading to meteors that appear as bright shooting stars when they enter the atmosphere and burn up.

According to Royal Observatory astronomer Affelia Wibisono, the shower is expected to peak tomorrow.

She added: “The best time to see them is in the early evening on that day, but they are visible all through the night, weather depending of course.”

The meteor shower is most likely to be visible in the direction of the constellation of Draco, the Dragon, in the northern sky, just after nightfall.

However, Ms Wibisono said moonlight from the waning gibbous moon – a phase where the Earth’s natural satellite is partially illuminated by direct sunlight – might make it harder to spot the fainter meteors.

She said: “The best thing to do is to turn your back to the moon to minimise the amount of light pollution – and of course, get away from the city lights.”

The meteors can be observed with the naked eye.

A second meteor shower, the Orionids, will also take place later this month, peaking on October 21.

Stargazers are advised to get away from city lights and turn their backs to the moon if they want to get a good view of the meteor shower.