Rare Chi Cygnids are active! Maybe. Observing info here

A new meteor shower — the Chi Cygnids — appears to be producing an increasing number of meteors. It might be headed toward a peak in mid-September. Will you catch one of the slow, rare and mysterious Chi Cygnids? Join EarthSky’s Deborah Byrd live at 12:15 p.m. CDT (17:15 UTC) on Monday, September 8, to find out when, where, and how to try. Watch in the player above, or on YouTube.

Chi Cygnids are a pleasant September surprise

A recently discovered meteor shower has been showing increased activity this week. And it might become even more active during the next few nights, with a peak – or maximum activity – around September 13 to 15, 2025.

Peter Jenniskens, an astronomer from NASA Ames Research Center and the SETI Institute, discovered this meteor shower. Using the Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS), he and colleagues detected a bump-up in activity of the Chi Cygnids in late August and early September.

And, based on previous observations, this meteor shower appears to increase in activity about every five years. It showed increased activity in 2010, 2015, 2020 and now in 2025. So will the cycle hold? Will we see more meteors from this shower in the coming nights? Meteor showers are always inherently unpredictable. But there’s a good chance!

Just be aware that this is a modest shower. With the Chi Cygnids, it’s not about seeing a huge number of meteors, as with the famous August Perseids or December Geminids. Those seeking Chi Cygnids are inspired by the thrill of the hunt! If you see one or just a few Chi Cygnids, you’ll have bragging rights until the regular, more reliable meteors showers start early next month.

The rare and mysterious Chi Cygnids

Annual meteor showers typically happen every year as Earth – in its orbit around the sun – intercepts debris in paths left by a comet or sometimes an asteroid. But the parent body for the Chi Cygnids isn’t known for certain.

The return of the Chi Cygnids every five years suggests it might be from particles left by an unknown Jupiter-family comet. And the location of the related debris in our solar system might slightly change or move thanks to the gravitational influence of mighty Jupiter.

But the Chi Cygnids are unsual, and here’s why.

• Many of the best known or famous meteor showers require that you observe late in the night. But the Chi Cygnids’ radiant is high in the sky – close to the zenith – as soon as it gets dark. So it’s an early evening meteor shower!
• The Chi Cygnid aren’t known as the brightest meteors. But they do catch the eye because the meteors are quite slow. They have an estimated speed of just 15 km per second (33,500 mph), which is slow compared to most shower meteors. Compare them to the Perseids, which zip through the air at about 60 km per second (133,000 mph). Their slow speed makes them easier for you to spot, and enjoy.
• If you do spot any, you can contribute to scientists’ understanding of these meteors! More about that below.

Just be sure to observe from a dark location. Visit EarthSky’s Best Places to Stargaze here.

This video shows some Chi Cygnid meteors from September 4, 2025, in Puerto Rico. See how slowly they move across the sky? Lots of fun to watch! Video via Astronomical Society of the Caribbean.

What to expect from the Chi Cygnids

As recently as September 4, 2025, cameras belonging to the Astronomical Society of the Caribbean detected a few faint and slow-moving Chi Cygnid meteors from Puerto Rico. At least, they appeared to radiate from the constellation Cygnus, so we believe they were Chi Cygnids. Plus, they were slow-moving!

What can you expect? Full moon falls on September 7, and afterwards the moon will be waning and leaving the evening sky dark. So your chances of seeing a Chi Cygnid in the evening sky will get better and better as the days pass. On the night of September 13 to 14, the 51%-illuminated moon will rise just before midnight. Meanwhile, on the night of September 14 to 15, the waning moon will be around 40% illuminated and will rise shortly after midnight.

During the 2020 return of this shower, low-light cameras detected 449 meteors identified as likely shower members. That’s 449 total meteors, not 449 per hour! How many per hour might you see? Maybe one or two. But we can try to catch some of these episodic meteors.

Where should you look to see this strange meteor shower?

The Chi Cygnid meteor shower is named after its apparent radiant near the star Chi Cygni in Cygnus the Swan. The star Chi Cygni is a variable double star not far from the bright star Vega in Lyra the Harp.

As with any meteor shower, you don’t have to look at its radiant, because meteors can appear in any area of the sky. Just remember, these meteors are radiating from Cygnus, which is high in the sky in the evening this month. So it’s best not to look for meteors while standing up. Instead, observe from a reclining chair or from a blanket on the ground. Lie back! Relax! And look casually overhead for the meteors. Taking a relaxed pose like this will let you cover more area of the sky, increasing your probability of seeing some meteors.

Turn off exterior lights if observing from your backyard. The darker the location, the higher the probability that you might glimpse the meteors.

Help scientists study the Chi Cygnids

If you do spot any Chi Cygnid meteors, you can contribute your observation to the International Meteor Organization (IMO). Robert Lunsford of the American Meteor Society, who also contributes to the IMO, told EarthSky:

First, you need to create an account (which is free) at: https://www.imo.net/members/imo_registration/register/

This is a valuable asset as your data will be kept with others from around the world and will be available for study by leading astronomers interested in meteor astronomy.

After creating an account you need to fill out the visual meteor form, which is linked to the membership page. If this is too complicated, you can simply email me (Robert Lunsford ), and I will place it in the AMS archive.

If they provide me with the center of their field of view and limiting magnitude along with the shower breakdown, I can submit the form to the IMO for them.

Meteor forms are available at:https://www.amsmeteors.org/visual/Advanced%20Form.pdf

Good luck!

Bottom line: The Chi Cygnids are a September meteor shower that shows increased activity every 5 years. And 2025 is one of those years! Observing info here.

Via SETI Institute