Your first major opportunity to spot shooting stars and bright fireballs in 2026 arrives overnight tonight with the peak of the Quadrantid meteor shower, though only the brightest members may be visible, as the annual event crescendos in the bright light of a full moon.
The Quadrantid meteor shower is active from Dec. 26, 2025 to Jan. 16, 2026, with a narrow peak lasting roughly six hours that unfolds in the period preceding dawn on Jan. 4, according to EarthSky.org. The shower owes its brief peak to the near-perpendicular angle at which Earth smashes through the thin debris trail left by asteroid 2003 EH1. Shooting stars appear when shards of ancient comets and asteroids collide with Earth, burning up in a fiery display as they are overwhelmed by friction.
