Rare daytime meteor shower peak this week — here's how to see (and even hear) them

a man silhouetted looking out across mountainous landscape and the predawn sky. — If you want to catch a glimpse of a rare Arietid meteor, you'll need to set your alarm. (Image credit: bjdlzx via Getty Images)

Meteor showers occur during the day too, and the Arietids can put on quite a show this time of year.

The shower is active from May 22 to July 3, with a predicted peak around mornings of June 10, 2026, according to astronomy site Earth Sky.

Unlike most meteor showers, however, there is a very narrow window for viewing the Arietids — about 45 to 60 minutes before sunrise. Because the sun washes out most of these meteors, the approach must be different from that of regular meteor showers if you are to catch them.

Do not look for the Arietids around midnight. Look to the eastern horizon before sunrise. Best viewing occurs right as the earliest hint of dawn touches the night sky.

Predawn sky chart showing the radiant area of the daytime Arietid meteor shower alongside Mars and Saturn. — Look for daytime meteors in the mornings around June 10. (Image credit: Jules-Pierre Malartre/Starry Night)

The Arietids' radiant is near the star 41 Arietis (Bharani) in the constellation Aries. Since the radiant is hugging the eastern horizon at that time, the meteors won't "fall down from above." They will seem to shoot straight up from the horizon, which is quite a sight to see. They can also be seen skimming horizontally across the top of the atmosphere.

Since they restrict the field of view too much to enjoy this spectacle fully, you can put away your binoculars and telescopes for this one (and, seriously, with the sun not being far behind, lurking just below the horizon, it's best not to use binoculars and telescopes in view of the danger of inadvertently pointing them at the sun, which can permanently injure your eyes). The best way to observe any meteor shower is with the naked eye. Make yourself comfortable and enjoy.

For the most adventurous amateur who wants to push the boundaries of visual observation, the Arietids are also an interesting target for basic radio astronomy that requires very little equipment to enjoy.

Listen for meteors

Instead of looking for the Arietids with your eyes, you can "listen" to them with an old antenna and a standard FM radio receiver. When a meteor slams into the upper atmosphere, it vaporizes and leaves behind a column of ionized gas that acts like a temporary mirror for radio signals.

Simply tune the FM radio receiver to a distant frequency that normally only delivers static. Leave the radio on. When an Arietid streaks across the daytime sky, the ionized trail will bounce distant signals right into the antenna, resulting in an eerie short burst of music or voice breaking through the static.

In 2005, Jules-Pierre quit a promising aerospace engineering career to become a freelance writer. He's been an avid amateur astronomer, model rocketeer and space enthusiast since he saw the Eagle land on the moon. When he is not writing technical procedures, newspaper and magazine articles or web content, he is out there watching the sky or launching rockets into it.