Wed, Oct 21
Orionids meteor shower 2026 from Johannesburg
Best 1:07 AM–4:22 AM (radiant up to 48°).
Up to about 20 meteors an hour under a perfectly dark sky. The Moon is 72% lit on the peak night.
This has passed
Times are local (GMT+2).
One notification in the late afternoon, only on nights with something worth going out for over Johannesburg: 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 Johannesburg'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 20 an hour from a dark place, fewer this year in bright moonlight.
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.
Other cities
- CairoBest 12:40 AM–5:55 AM (radiant up to 76°)
- DubaiBest 12:03 AM–5:18 AM (radiant up to 81°)
- BengaluruBest 12:19 AM–5:19 AM (radiant up to 86°)
- MumbaiBest 12:38 AM–5:38 AM (radiant up to 86°)
- PuneBest 12:34 AM–5:34 AM (radiant up to 87°)
- AthensBest 1:10 AM–6:25 AM (radiant up to 68°)
- ChennaiBest 12:08 AM–5:08 AM (radiant up to 87°)
- AhmedabadBest 12:39 AM–5:39 AM (radiant up to 83°)
- HyderabadBest 12:16 AM–5:16 AM (radiant up to 88°)
- IstanbulBest 12:49 AM–6:04 AM (radiant up to 65°)
Calculated with Astronomy Engine (MIT license).