Annual Draconid meteor shower is all set for a great night show staring at nightfall on October 8 and 9. Draconid meteors which were formerly known as Giacobinids were named after the constellation Draco the Dragon.

As per experts, the 21P/Giacobini-Zinner is the comet the causes the Draconid meteor showers. The comet orbits the sun after every six and a half years, and the Draconid meteor shower happens whenever the Earth comes in contact with the dirt and fragments from the 21P/Giacobini-Zinner route.

Unlike other comets, 21P/Giacobini-Zinner creates roughly 10 to 20 showers in an hour’s duration. However, in 2011, stargazers in Europe reported almost 660 meteors per hour.

The thing that makes this meteor shower unique from others is that it peaks right around sunset whereas most of the other meteor showers peak before dawn.

As per experts, the weather across Colorado over the next few nights seems good and would cooperate for the most part but there could be some clouds around sunset in areas where daytime showers develop.

The moon will also cooperate over the next few nights since it rises after midnight and is entering a new phase, they added. One can expect to see a few each hour, but every now and then the dragon wakes up and puts on quite a show, said Earthsky.org.

The second celestial show as few weeks later, the popular Orionids, would peak around October 21-22.

Bill Cooke, head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, said, “Draconid meteors are either in outburst, with a fair number of meteors, or are so few that the casual observer would not notice them”.