There are still tons of mysteries in the universe, and the Bootids meteor shower is one of them. The upcoming meteor shower occurs during the last week of June and the first few days of July, and it has the potential to be one of the weakest or strongest meteor showers of the year. How’s that for noncommital?
The Bootids meteor shower officially runs from June 22 to July 2, with a peak on the evening of June 26 and the morning of June 27. Its 10-day run is among the shortest of any named meteor showers.
Bootids is also the single most unpredictable meteor shower of the year in terms of how many visible meteors it can produce. It’s not terribly active during most years and produces approximately one or two meteors per hour during its peak. However, Bootids is known for having random outbursts, during which it produces as many meteors as the bigger meteor showers.
The most recent such occurrence was in 2004, and other big years include 1998, 1927, 1921 and 1916. The 1998 Bootids meteor shower is legendary, with reports of 100 meteors per hour. That’s as many as Perseids, which is arguably the most famous meteor shower of the year, and right up there with other active showers like Geminids and Quadrantids.
Since science hasn’t yet figured out how to reliably predict these outbursts, any year could be the next big one.
The Boötes constellation will be high in the southern sky right after sunset June 26.
How to see Bootids
All meteor showers take their name from the constellation where they appear to originate, a point known as the radiant. For Bootids, that’s the Boötes constellation.
Boötes sits high in the southern sky and will be immediately visible after sunset on June 26. It’s visible all night, dipping into the western sky overnight before nestling against the western horizon before sunrise. If you’re having trouble finding it, a night sky map like Stellarium or Time and Date can help you find it.
Follow standard tips for seeing any meteor shower. You want to get away from the city and suburbs to reduce noise pollution. (June’s moon will be about 90% full on June 26, which means you can’t escape all of the light pollution.)
Everything is easy from there. Settle into a comfortable spot, don’t use bright lights, and avoid magnification aids like binoculars and telescopes, as they obstruct your view and may cause you to miss a meteor.
How many meteors will Bootids produce?
Your guess is as good as anyone’s. The Bootids meteor shower typically produces a scant one or two meteors per hour.
However, these meteors are known for being slow, bright and long-lasting, so what few are likely to show up should be pretty easy to spot, even with June’s nearly full moon.
But prior outbursts of up to 100 meteors an hour took astronomers completely by surprise. Anything could happen.
Why is Bootids so difficult to predict?
Every meteor shower has a parent body, such as a comet or asteroid, that leaves behind a trail of dust and debris. Earth moves through those trails of dust and debris, which then enter the atmosphere and produce meteor showers.
Most comets and asteroids leave a pretty consistent trail, which leads to fairly consistent meteor showers. You can count on Perseids to put on a decent show just about every year.
The Bootids meteor shower is just like the rest. Its parent comet is called 7P/Pons-Winnecke, which orbits the sun every 6.3 years and is highly affected by Jupiter’s gravity.
The difference is that 7P/Pons-Winnecke leaves an erratic, uneven trail of debris. When the Earth moves through this trail, it might pass through a weaker segment, producing only a handful of meteors, or through a stronger segment, producing dozens or more per hour. There’s no way to know for sure, you’ll just have to stay up and see for yourself.
