/meteorshower
/meteorshower [name] [location] [remember]
Shows the next upcoming major meteor shower by default — peak
date, typical rate (ZHR — see below), and what causes it (a
comet or asteroid’s debris trail) — or, given name, a
specific shower instead, or the full list of all 11.
What ZHR actually means: the Zenith Hourly Rate is the theoretical maximum meteor count per hour, assuming the radiant sits directly overhead (zenith) under perfect dark-sky conditions. It’s a standardized reference figure for comparing showers, not a promise of what you’ll actually count on a given night — real rates are always lower, scaled down by how high the radiant actually is (see the altitude ratings below), plus moonlight, light pollution, and local weather, none of which this command measures.
Usage: /meteorshower alone (or name: next) shows the
next upcoming shower, no location needed. name: list shows
all 11 major annual showers sorted by how soon each peaks.
name: Perseids (autocomplete suggests names, plus list and
next, as you type) shows just that one shower’s own details.
For the next-shower or a specific-shower view, add a location
(or have a saved default) to also see the radiant’s altitude
at local midnight on peak night, rated Excellent/Good/Fair/Poor/
Below Horizon (verified against a published radiant-altitude
viewing-quality scale: above 50° is excellent, above 30° is
good, below 20° atmospheric extinction meaningfully cuts into
observed rates, below 0° it hasn’t risen yet) — a shower can be
“happening” globally while its radiant sits low or below the
horizon for your specific spot on Earth. When a location
resolves, you also get a simple chart showing roughly where to
look: altitude as height above a generic horizon, azimuth as
which compass direction(s) appear around the radiant marker.
Add remember: True to save a typed location as your new
default.
With a location, “next” and the days-away counts are measured from your local date (not the server’s), so a shower peaking tonight isn’t skipped just after midnight UTC. Without one they use the server’s UTC date.
The radiant check is for local midnight on peak night by your location’s real clock (timezone and daylight saving included). If the timezone can’t be determined it falls back to an approximation based on longitude, and says so in the footer.
Parameters
| Name | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
name | No | Optional: a shower name (e.g. 'Perseids'), 'list' for all 11, or 'next' (the default) for the next… |
location | No | Optional: city, decimal, or DMS coordinates to check radiant visibility (or use saved default). |
remember | No | Also save this as your new default location (otherwise this is a one-off lookup) |