New Camelopardalid Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight – Where and When to See It

For the first time, the Earth will pass through the debris trail from a comet known as 209P/LINEAR which was first spotted by astronomers in 2004. For us, the result will be a spectacular meteor shower, called the Camelopardalid meteor shower.

Beginning late tonight (Friday May 23) and peaking in the early am hours from 2am to 4am Saturday, viewers will have their best opportunity to look up a see the Camelopardalid meteor shower.



According to William Cooke, head of the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, the orbit of this comet, and the resulting debris is strongly influenced by the massive gravitational pull of the planet Jupiter.

This makes it somewhat unclear as to the exact intensity. However many are expecting it to be a very high frequency event, calling the Camelopardalid a meteor storm, rather than a shower.

According to Cooke it’s too hard to tell for sure saying, “It could be practically nothing, or it could be a couple hundred meteors per hour.”

To find out for you self, here is where and when to look to see the Camelopardalid meteor shower. For those in North America, where the viewing should be the best, look to the north using the “Big Dipper” as your guide.

The two end stars on the spoon point directly to the “north star” Polaris as the first star in the handle of the “little dipper”. The meteor shower will appear to emanate from between the two constellations. Go outside after midnight and expect peak activity between 2-4am.