Overview
- The June Bootids are forecast to reach their peak in the final week of June, with media and astronomy groups saying the highest activity is likely this week.
- Royal Museums Greenwich and other experts emphasize that there are no predictions of an outburst and that the shower’s activity cannot be reliably forecasted.
- The shower is usually weak but has produced sudden, unexpected surges in the past, notably on June 27, 1998, when observers reported roughly 50–100 meteors per hour, and on June 23, 2004, when rates reached about 50 per hour.
- Practical viewing advice for casual stargazers is to find a dark site, let eyes adapt for about 30 minutes, look at a wide patch of sky rather than one point, and aim for late-night hours away from city lights with clear weather and low moonlight.
- Smartphone photography can capture meteors if the phone is kept steady or tripod-mounted, night mode is used, exposure is lowered, and the camera is pointed at a broad portion of sky while the viewer waits patiently.