Sky calendar
Peak times in UTC, intensity scored against the ten-year average for each event class, and the sites where geometry and weather line up best.
Window
Jan 3–4, 2026
04:20 UTC
A sharp, narrow peak lasting barely six hours, with rates up to 110 per hour under ideal skies. The radiant sits high for northern latitudes after midnight, but the peak is unforgiving — miss the window by half a night and you see almost nothing.
Intensity
78
Countdown
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Peak
Feb 17, 2026
12:12 UTC
The ring of fire crosses Antarctica with a partial phase visible from southern Argentina, Chile and the far south of Africa. Perigee is running two observation charters into the partial zone from Patagonia.
Intensity
96
Countdown
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Window
Mar 19–23, 2026
20:40 local
Around the equinox the ecliptic stands steepest against the western horizon after dusk, which is when the zodiacal light shows best. Under Bortle 1–2 skies it appears as a broad, tilted cone of pale light lasting nearly two hours after twilight.
Intensity
64
Countdown
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Peak
Apr 22, 2026
09:00 UTC
Modest rates of 15–20 per hour but a reliable producer of bright fireballs with persistent trains. The 2026 edition falls five days after new moon, so the first half of the night is fully dark.
Intensity
55
Countdown
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Window
May 14 – Jun 2, 2026
All night
Hyperactive short-period comet reaching perihelion with a predicted peak magnitude near 7.5 — binocular territory from a dark site, with a diffuse green coma and a short ion tail on the best nights.
Intensity
71
Countdown
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Window
Jun 14–18, 2026
01:00–03:30 local
The Sagittarius core reaches its highest and darkest presentation of the year from southern sites, culminating near zenith in the small hours across a five-night moonless window. The single best imaging opportunity on the southern calendar.
Intensity
88
Countdown
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Window
Aug 12–13, 2026
23:40 UTC
The best Perseid return in years — peak falls three days after new moon, giving fully dark skies for the entire night. Expect 90–110 per hour under Bortle 2 or better, with a strong fireball component after 01:00.
Intensity
92
Countdown
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Peak
Sep 8, 2026
Transit 00:15 local
Saturn at its closest and brightest, magnitude 0.5, with the rings opening to 12° — noticeably wider than in the previous three years. The Seeliger effect brightens the ring system for roughly 48 hours around opposition.
Intensity
74
Countdown
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Peak
Oct 6, 2026
22:05 UTC
A waning crescent Moon passes directly across the Pleiades, extinguishing Alcyone, Merope and Electra one at a time. Stars disappear instantly at the lunar limb — the single most striking demonstration that the Moon has no atmosphere.
Intensity
68
Countdown
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Peak
Dec 14, 2026
05:30 UTC
The strongest annual shower, with rates reaching 130 per hour and unusually slow, colourful meteors from the asteroid 3200 Phaethon. Active from full dark rather than only after midnight, which makes it the most accessible major shower of the year.
Intensity
95
Countdown
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Peak
Dec 29, 2026
18:30 local
The two brightest planets close to within 0.4° in the evening twilight — near enough to fit in a single medium-power eyepiece field alongside all four Galilean moons. Low to the southwest, so a clean horizon matters more than darkness.
Intensity
61
Countdown
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