The October Camelopardalids meteor shower
Key facts
- Peak
- around 5–6 October (a sharp peak lasting under an hour)
- Active
- about 5–6 October
- Rate at peak (ZHR)
- about 5
- Speed
- about 47 km/s
- Radiant
- Camelopardalis (high in the north, near the border with Ursa Major and Draco)
- Parent body
- An unidentified long-period comet
Dates shift slightly from year to year. This year's peak is in the events calendar.
The October Camelopardalids are a compact, short-lived shower from the far northern sky. They were picked out by a Finnish video observer in 2005 and have been recorded every year since by camera networks.
Discovery. On 5 October 2005, Jarmo Moilanen in Finland recorded twelve meteors on video from a tight radiant in Camelopardalis. Other Finnish observers confirmed the radiant, and the event was reported as an outburst of a previously unknown shower. Possible earlier sightings may go back to the early twentieth century, though they are hard to confirm.
What we know. Video networks in Japan, Europe and North America have since detected the shower every year. The peak is extremely sharp, lasting less than an hour, with useful activity for only about six hours around it. The meteors begin to glow about 105 kilometres up and burn out near 93 kilometres. Their orbits suggest a long-period comet, perhaps a Halley-type comet, one that takes between about 20 and 200 years to orbit the Sun, but no parent has been identified.
The radiant. Camelopardalis, the Giraffe, is a large, faint constellation between the Pole Star and Capella. The radiant lies at its northern end near the border with Ursa Major and Draco. From the UK it is circumpolar, meaning it never sets.
What to expect. A handful of medium-fast meteors around the predicted time, about five an hour at the peak. Because the peak is so brief, timing is everything; in most years it falls in daylight for some parts of the world and darkness for others.
Viewing from the UK. The radiant is above the horizon all night. Early October nights are long and usually dark. The October Draconids peak a few days later, so the same nights can be used for both.
Viewing worldwide. This is a northern shower; from the southern hemisphere the radiant never rises.
Viewing tips
- Check the predicted peak time, as the activity lasts less than an hour.
- Look high in the north, between the Pole Star and the Plough.
- Run a camera through the night of 5–6 October to catch the brief peak.
- Expect a few medium-fast meteors from the far north.
- Stay on for the October Draconids, which follow a few nights later.