Orionids, Taurids and Leonids from Australia, October–November 2026

The short version

• Orionids: best from about 3:30 am until dawn on Thursday 22 October, after the 79% Moon sets. Expect at most about 5 to 10 meteors an hour from a dark site.
• Taurids: two slow, overlapping streams with broad peaks around 5–6 and 12–13 November. About 5 an hour from each, on dark, mostly moonless nights.
• Leonids: the peak is in daylight on 18 November, so use the last two to three hours before dawn that morning, for a few an hour.
• None is a big shower from here; treat them as practice for the December Geminids.

What the rates mean from 30–35°S

A shower’s ZHR (zenithal hourly rate) is what one observer would count in an hour under a perfectly dark sky with the radiant, the point the meteors seem to come from, directly overhead. It is a ceiling, not a forecast. One rule of thumb puts real counts at a quarter to a little over half of the ZHR, and lower when the radiant is low.

All three radiate from the northern sky. From southern Australia their radiants reach only about 40–46° for the Orionids, 34–48° for the Taurids and 34–40° for the Leonids, and a lower radiant means fewer meteors. Further north, in Darwin or at Karlu Karlu, they climb higher.

Orionids: Thursday morning, 22 October

The Orionids are debris from Halley’s Comet and are fast, about 66 km/s. Activity runs from 2 October to 7 November. The ZHR is about 20; EarthSky gives 10 to 20 an hour under ideal skies, and with the radiant lower from here, expect the bottom of that range or less.

The peak is at 18:28 UTC on 21 October: 5:28 am AEDT in Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart and Canberra, 4:58 am ACDT in Adelaide, 4:28 am AEST in Brisbane, 3:58 am ACST in Darwin and 2:28 am AWST in Perth, all on Thursday 22 October. On the east coast that is close to dawn, so the useful time is the hour or two before it.

The Moon is the real limit: a 79% waxing gibbous that sets at about 3:38 am AEDT in Sydney, 2:24 am AEST in Brisbane, 3:00 am AWST in Perth and about 4:00 am ACDT in Adelaide. The radiant in Orion rises on the evening of the 21st at about 10:40 pm in Brisbane, 11:15 pm in Perth and 11:57 pm in Sydney. Shoot from moonset until the sky starts to brighten.

If 22 October is cloudy, the next few mornings still work, but the Moon sets later each night and the dark window shrinks.

Taurids: slow meteors in early November

The Southern Taurids, from Comet 2P/Encke, and the Northern Taurids, linked to asteroid 2004 TG10, overlap for weeks with broad, poorly defined peaks: about 18:58 UTC on 5 November for the Southern stream (5:58 am AEDT on the 6th) and 18:15 UTC on 12 November for the Northern (5:15 am AEDT on the 13th). Each has a ZHR of about 5, so together they give around 10 an hour at best.

Taurids are slow, at 27–29 km/s, and in a typical year about 1% are fireballs. 2026 is not a swarm year; the next predicted Taurid fireball swarm is in 2032.

The radiant, in Taurus near the Pleiades and Aldebaran, rises early: on 5 November at about 6:51 pm AEST in Brisbane, 7:26 pm AWST in Perth and 8:08 pm AEDT in Sydney. It is useful from about 9 pm until dawn. On 5 November the Moon is a 12% crescent that rises only after about 2 am, new Moon is on 9 November, and by 12 November the 11% crescent sets in the evening. The nights from about 5 to 13 November are the darkest of the season.

Leonids: a short window before dawn on 18 November

The Leonids come from Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle and are very fast, about 71 km/s. Activity runs from 6 to 30 November and the ZHR is about 15. No storm is expected this year; Leonid storms come roughly every 33 years, and the comet’s next perihelion is in early 2031.

The peak, at 23:50 UTC on 17 November, falls in daylight everywhere in Australia: 10:50 am AEDT, 10:20 am ACDT, 9:50 am AEST, 9:20 am ACST and 7:50 am AWST on Wednesday 18 November. The morning before it is your chance. The radiant in Leo rises at about 12:55 am in Brisbane, 1:33 am in Perth, 2:17 am in Sydney and 2:40 am in Adelaide, and stays below 40° before dawn.

The Moon helps: it is 55% lit and sets at about 12:21 am in Brisbane, 12:58 am in Perth, 1:37 am in Sydney and 2:00 am in Adelaide, before the radiant is up. Realistically, expect a few Leonids an hour.

Where to watch

For all three showers, pick a dark site with an open view to the north-east and north, where the radiants rise and climb.

• NSW: Warrumbungle National Park, Australia’s first International Dark Sky Park, about 35 km from Coonabarabran (5.5 hours from Sydney). Camping needs a permit from the visitor centre (9 am to 4 pm), and drivers must stay on formed roads. Siding Spring Observatory is closed to the public at night; Beyond the Sky Stargazing runs night tours.
• SA: the River Murray International Dark Sky Reserve. Its core, Swan Reach Conservation Park, is about 100 km from Adelaide, 4WD only, with no facilities, so bring water and food. Camping at Meldanda (Cambrai) has been listed at $5 a person, bookings essential; check current fees.
• Victoria: the Grampians (Gariwerd), about three hours from Melbourne and on Parks Victoria’s stargazing list; book campgrounds through Parks Victoria and check for closures.
• Queensland: the Sunshine Coast hinterland International Dark Sky Reserve, around Maleny, Mapleton, Montville and Kenilworth.
• WA: Nambung National Park (the Pinnacles), two to two and a half hours from Perth. Night access and camping rules were not confirmed when we wrote this, so check with Parks and Wildlife first; mobile coverage is limited.
• NT: Karlu Karlu (Devils Marbles), an International Dark Sky Sanctuary since August 2026, about 100 km south of Tennant Creek. Check access and road conditions before you go.

How to photograph them

Use your widest lens (14–24 mm on full frame) wide open, ideally f/1.8–f/2.8, at ISO 1600–3200, and focus manually on a bright star in magnified live view. The 500 rule gives a starting exposure: 500 divided by the full-frame focal length is the longest exposure in seconds before stars trail, about 25 seconds at 20 mm (on a crop sensor, multiply the focal length by 1.5 or 1.6 first). Apps using the stricter NPF rule give shorter times for high-resolution sensors.

Meteors are brief and unpredictable, so shoot continuously with an intervalometer for an hour or more and keep the frames with a meteor. Aim about 30–45° to one side of the radiant, where trails are longer, and include a ridge or tree line for scale.

On a phone, use a tripod and night mode at its longest setting, keep taking frames, and turn screen brightness right down to protect your night vision.

Spring nights inland can be cool and damp: a lens heater strip, or a hand warmer held on the lens with a rubber band, keeps dew off. Carry a spare battery.

Before you leave

The Bureau of Meteorology lists October to April as the peak period for heatwaves, bushfires, severe thunderstorms and flooding, and the northern cyclone season starts on 1 November. Check the forecast, fire danger rating and any total fire ban before you go (in NSW a ban means no open fires and no wood or charcoal barbecues). Wombats, emus and kangaroos are active at night, so drive slowly, and tell someone where you are going.

If you catch a meteor, share the frame in the Astro photography hobby on Garbamons.