Welcome to Stargazers Club WA’s annual guide to the year’s unmissable meteor showers.
Shooting stars reward patient stargazers, and we’ve collected the essential info for West Australian skies to prepare skywatchers and amateur astronomers alike for where to look and what to expect.
Presenting: 2026’s meteor shower highlights for sky-watchers in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Lyrid meteor shower lasts from April 14 to 30 2026, peaking around 3.30am on 23 April 2026.
For WA skywatchers, the Lyrid meteor shower is best seen north of Carnarvon, where it appears higher in the sky. The meteor shower starts slowly, but its hourly rate increases sharply closer to the peak.
The Lyrids are known for bright meteors producing occasional fireballs. In ideal conditions, under dark skies, you could potentially see up to 18 shooting stars an hour.
How do I see the Lyrid meteor shower?
The Moon is in its first quarter phase this year, setting around 8.45pm AWST the night before the Lyrids’ peak.
In south west WA, the Lyra constellation is below the horizon for most of the night and low to the horizon for the remainder. This means the meteors are also very low on the horizon, making viewing difficult.
Around 3.30am on 23 April, look for the Lyrids above the northern and north eastern and horizon. Find the bright star Vega, and scan the sky between the constellations Lyra and Hercules.
More about the Lyrids meteors
For the Boorong clan of north-western Victoria, the constellation of Lyra was the ancestral Malleefowl, Neilloan, who taught people when to look for Malleefowl eggs.
The Lyrid meteor shower coincides with the time the Malleefowl start to build their elaborate nests, with the streaks of the meteor shower itself resembling a bird kicking up sand as she builds a nest.
Read more about the 2026 Lyrids meteors here.
The Orionid meteor shower lasts from 3 October to 7 November 2026, peaking around 3am on 22 October 2026.
The Orionids meteors last for over a month, building up from one or two an hour in early October to their peak of around 20 per hour. Rates were sometimes double that in the early 2000s, so there’s a rare possibility they may spike again.
This meteor shower is known for its very fast meteors, reaching speeds of around 66 km/s as they enter Earth’s atmosphere. They’re sometimes faint, but can leave lasting glowing trails.
How do I see the Orionid meteor shower?
The radiant of the Orionids is between the constellations of Orion and Gemini on the north-east horizon.
With the peak of the meteor shower coming around 5am AWST, and Sunrise at 5.30am, your best viewing is before dawn on 22 October. The Moon is in its first quarter phase this year, setting around 8.45pm the night before the Orionids’ peak.
More about the Orionids meteors
The Orionid meteor shower is caused by Earth flying through the field of dust, ice, and rocks left over from the tail of Halley’s Comet (or Comet 1/P Halley, to use its proper name.)
Note: Europeans discovered the shower in 1798, Chinese astronomers documented it centuries earlier.
Read more about the 2026 Orionid meteor shower.
The Leonid meteor shower lasts most of November, sharply peaking before dawn around 18 November 2026.
The Leonids are bright and incredibly fast meteors, we’re talking speeds of 72km/s. They’re a relaxed shower even at their peak, and you could see as many as 15 meteors an hour.
How do I see the Leonids meteors?
In the hours before dawn, look to the north-east horizon. The Leonids seem to originate from the Leo constellation, low on the horizon.
This year, the Moon is in its first quarter and setting around 1am, so it won’t interfere with your meteor hunting.
Read more about the Leonid meteor shower here
The Leonids are caused by the Earth flying through debris left by Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. Around every 33 years, we pass through a fresh debris deposit, which very occasionally produces bursts of thousands of meteors per minute.
In 1833, the Leonids frightened and amazed people across the eastern USA, as they witnessed tens of thousands of meteors per hour. Reports at the time described it as “like the planets and constellations were falling from their places.”
The next Leonid storm is predicted for 2034, so put it in your diaries.
Read more about the 2026 Leonid meteor shower here.
The Geminid meteor shower is one of the best meteor showers of 2026, peaking around 11pm on 14 December.
The Geminids are laid-back meteors, clocking in at around 35 km/s, but they’re famously bold and bright, and can produce colourful fireballs.How do I see the 2026 Geminids meteors?
The radiant of the Geminid meteor shower is the Gemini constellation, above the eastern horizon. The Moon will be in its first quarter, setting around 11pm, so you can wait up for a potentially better view. This is because of some complex physics: larger meteors are slowed down, and so brighter meteors can appear later than the shower’s peak. An added bonus of waiting is that later meteors enter our atmosphere at a greater angle, so they’re visible for longer and have longer tails. At its best, and under ideal conditions, stargazers can hope for as many as 120 meteors per hour from the Geminids. Seen from Perth, the radiant is about 25 degrees above the horizon, so head further north, or set your expectations closer to 50 shooting stars per hour.Read more about the 2026 Geminid meteor shower here.
Grab your star charts, pack your sense of wonder, and head to the dark skies of an Astrotourism Town for a celestial adventure to catch one of the best meteor showers of 2026.
Keen to know what else is up this year? Check out our blog post on your best stargazing in 2026.
Jay Chesters
Jay Chesters is an award-winning wordsmith and science communicator with a little bit of a thing for the stars.
A cosmic storyteller with a love for astronomy and space that's out of this world, Jay’s always eager to share his knowledge and passions.
See the best meteor showers in astrotourism towns
