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Peak night · overnight October 21–22, 2026
Orionids Meteor Shower 2026: Peak Night and Best Viewing Time
Orionids 2026 peaks at about 18:00 UTC on October 21 (Wednesday, October 21 at 11:00 AM PDT), in daylight for most of the Americas. The best time to see the Orionids is the pre-dawn hours of October 21 and October 22, after moonset. A waxing gibbous Moon is the 2026 catch: it stays bright until moonset, then a short dark window opens until nautical dawn.
Countdown to the peak instant
The peak is a single UTC instant, published as about 18:00 UTC. Rates stay useful on both surrounding mornings, so treat this as the midpoint, not the only night worth watching.
Peak instant has passed. Watch the pre-dawn hours of October 22 after moonset.
Peak instant
Wednesday, October 21, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) | UTC−7
Converted from about 18:00 UTC on October 21. Daytime for much of the Western Hemisphere.
Moonset
3:22 AM
Thursday, October 22, 2026 · Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) | UTC−7
Waxing gibbous, about 78% lit at the peak instant and about 83% by the October 22 morning window. Computed for Los Angeles, a representative city in your timezone.
Best viewing window
3:22 AM until 6:09 AM
Pre-dawn October 21 and October 22 · Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) | UTC−7
Both mornings are worth watching. After moonset on October 22 the sky is dark enough for the faint meteors until nautical dawn.
Peak uses your browser timezone (America/Los_Angeles). Moonset and nautical dawn are computed for a point on Earth, not a timezone label alone.
When the Orionids peak in 2026
The shower is active from October 2 through November 7, 2026. Peak night is overnight October 21–22. The modeled peak instant is about 18:00 UTC on October 21. Because that instant falls in daylight for North America, the useful observing nights are the dark, pre-dawn windows on October 21 and October 22. Mornings of both days are worth watching.
Orionids 2026 peak instant in UTC, Pacific Daylight Time, and Eastern Daylight Time
Zone
Peak instant
UTC
Wednesday, October 21, 2026 at 6:00 PM
PDT
Wednesday, October 21, 2026 at 11:00 AM
EDT
Wednesday, October 21, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Orionids moon in 2026
Moonlight is the key 2026 detail. At the peak instant the Moon is a waxing gibbous, about 78% lit, and it is about 83% lit by the morning of October 22, washing out faint meteors for most of the night. Moonset on that morning depends on where you stand. After it sets, a short dark window lasts until nautical dawn. Those clock times are not the same worldwide.
The full Hunter's Moon follows on October 26, so later nights only get brighter. If you wait past peak week, moonlight gets worse, not better.
Best time to see the Orionids
Expect 10–20 meteors per hour under dark skies after moonset, not a storm.
Debris from Halley's Comet, entering at about 41 miles per second, often leaves persistent trains.
The radiant is in Orion and sits highest around 2 AM. Meteors can appear anywhere; facing away from the Moon after it sets helps.
Northern Hemisphere observers should lie flat on their back with feet toward the southeast. Southern Hemisphere observers should point their feet north, toward Orion as it climbs.
NASA viewing tips
Get to a dark area, away from streetlights and porch lights.
Lie flat on your back so as much sky as possible is in view. In the Northern Hemisphere, point your feet southeast. In the Southern Hemisphere, point your feet north.
Give your eyes about 30 minutes to adapt. Avoid phone screens once you start watching.
