Every six years, Comet Giacobini-Zinner completes an orbit of the sun leaving behind a trail of cometary debris. The Earth passes by Giacobini-Zinner's orbit every October and when it does, we experience gentle increase in the number of meteors flashing through the atmosphere.
The shower is called the Draconids (or "Giacobinids" after co-discoverer Michel Giacobini) and it usually peaks around 8/9 Oct. Usually we look forward to no more than ten meteors per hour but this year there is a possibility of seeing significantly more! I should emphasize the word "possibility" here as level of activity in a meteor shower is notoriously hard to predict and the predictions offer conflicting numbers for the weekend.
Whether we will get the level of activity predicted by NASA and other organizations, or just a handful, it seems Europe and the Middle East are best placed to witness the peak which is expected between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. GMT on Oct. 8.
via Discovery News
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