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← Draconids meteor shower 2026

Thu, Oct 8

Draconids meteor shower 2026 from Washington, D.C.

Best 7:53 PM–12:08 AM (radiant up to 61°).

Up to about 10 meteors an hour under a perfectly dark sky. The Moon is 3% lit on the peak night.

This has passed

Times are local (EDT).

"Worth looking up" alerts for Washington, D.C.

One notification in the late afternoon, only on nights with something worth going out for over Washington, D.C.: a very bright ISS pass, a Starlink train, a meteor shower peak, planets together, a supermoon or eclipse, the northern lights, or a bright comet. Only the city is stored, not your location.

Put Washington, D.C.'s sky in your calendar

Full moons, meteor showers, eclipses and bright ISS passes (with a 10-minute reminder) appear in your calendar and update by themselves.

Plan your night

☁️ Clouds through the night

The hour-by-hour cloud forecast appears about five days before.

🌑 Find a dark sky

City light hides most of the show. Drive until the sky looks clearly darker (often 30–60 minutes out), away from streetlights, with an open view.

🛰️ Also crossing the sky that night

Bright ISS and Starlink passes during the best hours appear about five days before.

Shooting stars streak across the sky: up to about 10 an hour from a dark place.

How to watch

  • Find a dark place away from city lights and give your eyes 20 minutes to adjust.
  • Lie back and look at a wide part of the sky; you do not need to face the radiant.
  • Rates are highest in the hours before dawn.
Tonight's sky over Washington, D.C. →

Other cities

Calculated with Astronomy Engine (MIT license).