Howardites
Annual meteor shower

The December Alpha Draconids meteor shower

Key facts

Peak
around 8–9 December
Active
mid-November to late December
Rate at peak (ZHR)
very low (detected mainly by video)
Speed
about 43 km/s
Radiant
Draco (near Thuban, Alpha Draconis, between the Plough's handle and the Little Bear)
Parent body
Unknown

Dates shift slightly from year to year. This year's peak is in the events calendar.

The December Alpha Draconids are a weak, long-lasting shower from the northern sky, active from mid-November to late December with a peak just before the Geminids.

Discovery. The shower was one of eleven found in 2009 by Takashi Kanamori in Tokyo, from two years of video recordings at several Japanese sites. Matching orbits revealed a group of medium-speed meteors from near Alpha Draconis.

Thuban. Alpha Draconis, called Thuban, is not the brightest star in Draco, but it has a special history. Because Earth's axis slowly wobbles, like a spinning top, over a cycle of about 26,000 years, the pole of the sky moves among the stars. Around 2700 BC, when the Egyptian pyramids were being built, Thuban was the nearest bright star to the north celestial pole, the pole star of its day.

The meteors. The meteoroids enter the atmosphere at about 43 kilometres per second. No parent body has been identified.

What to expect. Very few meteors spread over a long period. Members are hard to recognise by eye among the sporadic meteors and the other weak northern showers of December, such as the December Kappa Draconids and the Psi Ursae Majorids. Video networks are the main source of information.

Viewing. The radiant is circumpolar from the UK, so it is above the horizon all night, highest in the hours before dawn. December nights are the longest of the year, which gives camera networks plenty of time to record faint showers. From the southern hemisphere the radiant does not rise.

For most observers, the December Alpha Draconids will be an occasional meteor from the north during a Geminid watch.

Viewing tips

  1. Find Thuban halfway between the Plough's handle and the Little Bear's bowl.
  2. Watch in the hours before dawn, when Draco is highest.
  3. Note any medium-speed meteor coming from the far north.
  4. Use a camera to separate members from other December showers.
  5. Combine your watch with the Geminid peak a few nights later.