#1249: Meteor Showers

The xkcd guide to meteor showers

((This panel is a table with candy-cane shading. The three columns are “Name”, “Peak”, and “Notes”. It is given here in a |-delimited form.))

Name | Peak | Notes

Quadrantids | January 4th | Bring pets inside during peak activity

Tricuspids | January 21st | Not viewable in region 2 countries

Centaurids | February 6th | Too faint to see without going outside

Beta Aquariids | February 10th | Inverted shower converges toward Aquarius instead of radiating away

Chelyabids | February 15th | Only one meteor per shower, but it’s big.

Lyrids | April 22nd | Meteors sometimes scream

Daytime Zeta Perseids | June 9th | Likely a NASA hoax

June Boötids | June 27th | 50

50 mix of meteors and shooting stars

Southern Delta Aquariids | July 19th | Meteors very bright, but stationary

Dromaeosaurids | June 22nd | Fast, highly intelligent, can open doors

Perseids | August 12th | Instead of falling from sky, meteors erupt from ground

Tau Pyramids | August 15th | Visible even when eyes are closed

Draconids | October 8th | Very slow, but follow you if you run

Orionids | October 21st | Entire shower happens at once

Leonids | November 17th | In 1966, unusually active Leonid shower killed god

Geminids | December 13th | Can be deflected with tennis rackets