The Alpha Aurigid Meteor Shower.

The Alpha Aurigid Meteor shower occurs each year between 25 August and 6 September, and is expected to peak between 1.00 am and dawn on 1 September (this should be roughly the same wherever you are, as our 24 hour clock is derived from the motion of the Earth). However the shower is notoriously hard to observe, having been recorded only in the years 1911, 1929, 1930, 1935, 1979, 1980, 1986, 1994 and 2007 (some of these observations occurred before the 'official' discovery of the shower by Cuno Hoffmeister and Artur Teichgraeber in 1935, but have subsequently been linked to the shower). To make matters worse, the peak of the shower will fall slightly after the New Moon on 28 August, which would hamper the viewing of any meteors that do appear. The shower has its radiant point (the point from which the meteors appear to radiate) in the constellation of Auriga, close to the star Alpha Auriga (hence the name), which is a circumpolar star, permanently above the horizon in the Northern Hemisphere, but difficult to spot from the Southern Hemisphere.

The radiant of the Alpha Aurigid Meteors. Copper Mountain Mesa.

Meteor showers are thought to be largely composed of material from the tails of comets. Comets are composed largely of ice (mostly water and carbon dioxide), and when they fall into the inner Solar System the outer layers of this boil away, forming a visible tail (which always points away from the Sun, not in the direction the comet is coming from, as our Earth-bound experience would lead us to expect). Particles of rock and dust from within the comet are freed by this melting (strictly sublimation, transforming directly from a solid to a gas due to the low pressure on it's surface) of the comet into the tail and continue to orbit in the same path as the comet, falling behind over time.

The Earth passing through a stream of comet dust, resulting in a meteor shower. Not to scale. Astro Bob. 

The Aurigid Meteors are made by the Earth passing through the trail of Comet C/1911 N1 (Keiss),  and encountering dust from the tail of this comet. The dust particles strike the atmosphere at speeds of over 200 000 km per hour, burning up in the upper atmosphere and producing a light show in the process.

How the passage of the Earth through a meteor shower creates a radiant point from which they can be observed. In The Sky.

Comet C/1911 N1 (Keiss) was discovered on 6 July 1911, by astronomet Carl Clarence Keiss, at the Lick Observatory on the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California. The name C/1911 N1 (Keiss) implies it was the first (1) comet (C/) discovered in the first half of July 1911 (period 1911 N), and that is was discovered by Keiss.

A photograph of Comet C/1911 N1 (Keiss) taken by French Astronomer Ferdinand Quénisset at the Camille Flammarion Observatory to the south of Paris on 29 July 1911. The photograph is a single 78 minute exposure which tracked the comet; the elongated objects are stars which moved during the course of the exposure. Wikimedia Commons.

Comet C/1911 N1 (Keiss) completes one orbit every 2497 years on an eccentric orbit tilted at 148° to the plane of the Solar System, that takes it from 0.68 AU from the Sun (68% of the average distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun, and slightly inside the orbit of the planet Venus) to 367 AU from the Sun (367 times as far from the Sun as the Earth, and more than three times the distance at which the planet Neptune orbits the Sun). The comet last visited the Inner Solar System in 1911. As a comet with an orbital period of more than 200 years it is considered to be a Long Period Comet.

The current position and orbit of C/1911 N1 (Keiss). JPL Small Body Database.

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Comet C/2024 J3 (ATLAS) makes its closest approach to the Earth.

Comet C/2024 J3 (ATLAS) will make its closest approach to the Earth on Sunday 26 July 2026, when it will reach a distance of 3.45 AU (i.e 3.45 times the average distance between the Earth and the Sun), or 515 426 942 km from us. At this time it will be in the constellation of Lyra, which is above the horizon permanently in much of the Northern Hemisphere at this time of year, but invisible from most of the Southern Hemisphere. The comet will have an apparent optical magnitude of 13.9, meaning it will be hard to spot without a fairly good telescope to observe it. Furthermore, the closest approach comes three days before the Full Moon on Wednesday 29 July, so there is likely to be considerable light interference.

The approximate positions and orbits of the C/2024 J3 (ATLAS), the Earth, and selected planets of the Solar System on 26 July 2026. JPL Small Body Database.

Comet C/2024 J3 (ATLAS) was discovered on 3 May 2024 by scientists at the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope in Río Hurtado, Chile. The name C/2024 J3 (ATLAS) implies that it is a Comet (C/), that it was the 3rd comet (3) discovered in the first half of May 2024 (period 2024 J), and that it was discovered by the ATLAS sky survey.

An image of C/2024 J3 (ATLAS) taken on 10 July 2026, when it was a Magnitude 18.7 object in the constellation of Cygnus, taken from Gahberg in Austria. Günter Kerschhuber.

Comet C/2024 J3 (ATLAS) is a Parabolic Comet, which is to say a comet that was disrupted from an orbit in the Oort Cloud, and is passing through the Inner Solar System on a parabolic orbit that will probably not bring it back again. This parabolic trajectory is tilted at an angle of 75.6° to the plain of the Solar System, and will bring it at its closest to 3.87 AU from the Sun, on 25 November this year. C/2024 J3 (ATLAS) is not expected to pass close to any planets.

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The June Bootid Meteor Shower.

The June Bootid Meteor Shower is visible each year between 26 June and 2 July, typically peaking on 27 June. This meteor shower if highly unpredictable in nature, with most years producing very few meteors, but the shower occasionally having peak years, in which hundreds of meteors are visible each hour; the most recent major peak year happened in 1998 (a smaller peak was recorded in 2004), with the three peaks prior to that happening in 1927, 1921, and 1916. The shower has a radiant point (point from which the meteors appear to radiate) in the constellation of Boötes, close to the North Pole, making the shower possible to spot from anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere, but hard to see in the Southern Hemisphere. Unfortunately, this year's peak activity comes only two days before the Full Moon on 29 June, which means that good observation of the meteors may be hampered by the brightness of the Moon.

The radiant point of the June Bootid Meteor Shower. Space Weather.

Meteor showers are thought to be largely composed of material from the tails of comets. Comets are composed largely of ice (mostly water and carbon dioxide), and when they fall into the inner Solar System the outer layers of this boil away, forming a visible tail (which always points away from the Sun, not in the direction the comet is coming from, as our Earth-bound experience would lead us to expect). Particles of rock and dust from within the comet are freed by this melting (strictly sublimation, transforming directly from a solid to a gas due to the low pressure on it's surface) of the comet into the tail and continue to orbit in the same path as the comet, falling behind over time.

The Earth passing through a stream of comet dust, resulting in a meteor shower. Not to scale. Astro Bob.

The June Bootids Meteor Shower is caused by the Earth passing through the trail of comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke, where it encounters thousands of tiny dust particles shed from the comet as its icy surface is melted (strictly sublimated) by the heat of the Sun. 7P/Pons-Winnecke visits the Inner Solar System every 6.37 years, most recently in May 2021, and last came close to the Earth in 1939.

How the passage of the Earth through a meteor shower creates a radiant point from which they can be observed. In The Sky.

7P/Pons-Winnecke was discovered on 12 June 1819 by French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons, then based at Marseilles Observatory, and rediscovered by Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke at Pulkovo Observatory near Saint Petersburg. The designation 7P/Pons-Winnecke implies that it was the seventh comet discovered (7/ - strictly speaking people had been observing comets for thousands of years, but it was not until the mid-eighteenth century that it was realised that they were predictable objects that returned cyclically), that it is a periodic comet (P - again, most comets are periodic, but the term 'periodic comet' is reserved for those with periods of less than 200 years, since these can be reliably predicted), and that it was discovered by Pons and Winnecke.

7P/Pons-Winnecke immaged on 23 September 2015 from Kiev, Ukraine. The image is a single 300 second exposure, with the slightly elongate objects being stars that have moved over the course of the exposure. Alexander Baransky/Kiev Comet Station/Fachgruppe Kometen.

Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke currently completes one orbit every 2326 days (6.37 years) on an eccentric orbit tilted at 22.3° to the plane of the Solar System, that takes it from 1.26 AU from the Sun (126% of the average distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun) to 5.61 AU from the Sun (5.61 times as far from the Sun as the Earth, and slightly outside the orbit of Jupiter). As a comet with a period of less than 20 years with an orbit angled at less than 30° to the plane of the Solar System, 7P/Pons-Winnecke is considered to be a Jupiter Family Comet.

The orbit and current position of 7P/Pons-Winnecke. JPL Small Body Database.

This orbit means that 7P/Pons-Winnecke occasionally comes close to the Earth, with the last close approach having happened on 1 July 1939, when it reached a distance of 0.11 AU from the Earth (11% of the distance between the Earth and the Sun, or 16 052 000 km). The comet will next come close to us in June 2062, when it will reach a distance of 0.17 AU from the Earth.

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Comet C/2023 R1 (PANSTARRS) makes its closest approach to Earth.

Comet C/2023 R1 (PANSTARRS) will make its closest approach to the Earth today (Saturday 13 June 2026), when it will reach a distance of 2.63 AU (i.e 2.63 times the average distance between the Earth and the Sun), or 392 873 130 km from us. At this time it will be in the constellation of Ophiuchus, and have an apparent optical magnitude of 12, meaning it will be hard to spot without a fairly good telescope to observe it. Nevertheless, this closest approach falls the day before the New Moon on 14 June, so observers with appropriate equipment may be able to see it in the late evening (the comet will set before midnight).

The approximate positions and orbits of the C/2023 R1 (PANSTARRS), the Earth, and the planets of the Inner Solar System on 13 June 2026. Gideon van Buitenen.

Comet C/2023 R1 (PANSTARRS) was discovered on 7 September 2023 by the PANSTARRS sky survey, located at Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii. The name C/2023 R1 (PANSTARRS) implies that it is a Comet (C/), that it was the 1st comet (1) discovered in the first half of September 2021 (period 2023 R), and that it was discovered by the PANSTARRS sky survey.

Image of C/2023 R1 (PANSTARRS) taken on 25 July 2025. The comet is the point between the yellow cross hairs, the elongate objects are stars, with the elongation being caused by the tracking of the comet over the length of the exposure. Toshihiko Ikemura/Hirohisa Sato/Seiichi Yoshida.

Comet C/2023 R1 (PANSTARRS) is a Parabolic Comet, which is to say a comet that was disrupted from an orbit in the Oort Cloud, and is passing through the Inner Solar System on a parabolic orbit that will probably not bring it back again. This parabolic trajectory is tilted at an angle of 149.3° to the plain of the Solar System.

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