The Virginids are a meteor shower

Meteor shower

A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speeds on parallel trajectories. Most meteors are smaller...

. There are many major and minor meteor shower streams that occur during the Virginid Complex, including the Alpha Virginids, Gamma Virginids, Eta Virginids, Theta Virginids, Iota Virginids, Lambda Virginids, Mu Virginids, Pi Virginids, and Psi Virginids, and March Virginids, emanating mostly from the constellation Virgo

Virgo (constellation)

Virgo is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for virgin, and its symbol is . Lying between Leo to the west and Libra to the east, it is the second largest constellation in the sky...

 between February and May. Collectively, the shower normally lasts from late January to mid-April and into early May, peaking in March and April, with one to two meteors per hour on average. The main radiant

Radiant (meteor shower)

The radiant or apparent radiant of a meteor shower is the point in the sky, from which meteors appear to originate. The Perseids, for example, are meteors which appear to come from a point within the constellation of Perseus....

 shifts southeastwards from central Leo

Leo (constellation)

Leo is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for lion. Its symbol is . Leo lies between dim Cancer to the west and Virgo to the east.-Stars:...

 in late January to central Virgo

Virgo (constellation)

Virgo is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for virgin, and its symbol is . Lying between Leo to the west and Libra to the east, it is the second largest constellation in the sky...

 near Spica

Spica

Spica is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo, and the 15th brightest star in the nighttime sky. It is 260 light years distant from Earth...

 in mid-May.

Alpha Virginids

The Alpha Virginids occur between March 10 and May 6, peaking between April 7 and April 18, with five to ten meteors per hour. They were first detected in 1895.

Gamma Virginids

The North and South Gamma Virginids are a slow-moving minor meteor shower stream, although the May Gamma Virginids and Daytime Gamma Virginids are faster-moving. The source of the North and South Gamma Virginid streams are thought to be 2002 FC and 2003 BD44, respectively. It usually spans from April 5 to April 21, peaking on April 14 and April 15, with less than five meteors per hour. It was first discovered in 1895.

Eta Virginids

The Eta Virginids occur between February 24 and March 27, peaking around March 18 with only one to two meteors per hour. The shower was first detected in 1961.

Theta Virginids

The Theta Virginids occur between March 10 and April 21, peaking around March 20, with only one to three meteors per hour. The shower was first observed in 1850 and identified in 1948.

Mu Virginids

The Mu virginids are a minor meteor shower stream, visible in April and early May. The shower typically lasts from April 1 to May 12, peaking around April 24 to April 25. Its radiant is near Libra

Libra (constellation)

Libra is a constellation of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for weighing scales, and its symbol is . It is fairly faint, with no first magnitude stars, and lies between Virgo to the west and Scorpius to the east.-Notable features:]...

, peaking with seven to ten meteors per hour.

Pi Virginids

The Pi Virginids occur between February 13 and April 8, peaking between March 3 and March 9, with two to five meteors per hour. The shower was first observed in 1908 and identified in 1948.

March Virginids

The March Virginids are a minor meteor shower stream; the source of the Northern March Virginids is thought to be 1998 SJ70. The Beta Leonids, lasting from February 14 to April 25, peaking around March 20 with three to four meteors per hour, were also referred to as the "March Virginids".