Like all meteor showers, the Draconids occur when Earth passes through a cloud of rocky debris left behind by a comet. In this case, that's Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, which passes through the solar system and crosses Earth's orbit once every 6.5 years, according to NASA.

Will you see “shooting stars” right after sunset this week as the Draconid meteor shower peaks? Here’s when, where and how to see them.

While the annual shower usually makes for a sleepy showing, it has been known to produce fantastic outbursts in the past

The Draconid meteor shower is an annual event in which meteors — aka “shooting stars” — appear in the sky of the Northern Hemisphere. Typically, it occurs in October. This year, you can view the Draconids from Oct. 6 to Oct. 10, but the meteor shower will peak around the evening of Oct. 7 to the early morning of Oct. 8.

There are eight named meteor showers left in 2024, with at least one meteor shower being active at all times. That means you have the chance of seeing a shooting star on any given

"Assuming the sky is clear of cloud, to observe the meteor shower it is best to be outside for at least 15-20 minutes to allow for your eyes to adjust to the nighttime," astronomer Sam Rolfe of the University of Hertfordshire in England told Newsweek.