Get ready to look up at the night sky. The Orionid meteor shower is happening right now and it reaches its peak on October 21 and 22. You can expect to see up to 20 meteors an hour shooting across the stars. This is one of the coolest sky shows of the year. Grab a warm blanket and let us break down everything you need to know about spotting these famous shooting stars.
They come from a famous comet
Every time you see an Orionid meteor you are actually looking at tiny pieces of Halley’s Comet burning up. The Earth passes through the dusty trail left behind by this famous comet every October. These icy leftovers hit our atmosphere and light up the dark sky to create the shower.
Fast and furious streaks
These fast shooting stars speed along at nearly 66 kilometers per second across the dark sky. Because of that heavy speed, they leave behind shiny trails that remain visible for a couple of seconds. It is a fantastic thing to watch from your own yard. The glowing lines make you feel like you are right inside a sci-fi movie.
Best time to watch
To watch this beautiful scene, the best time would be quiet hours just before dawn. You can just head outside after midnight once the radiant point climbs higher into the sky. If you patiently wait for some time you can witness the most iconic sighting and it will be totally worth your time.
Dealing with the moon
This year we have to deal with a bright waxing gibbous moon that is about 77 percent illuminated during the peak. That bright moonlight will wash out some of the fainter meteors early in the night. The trick is to wait until the moon sets late at night or early in the morning. Once it drops below the horizon the sky will be dark enough to see the real show.
Look for the hunter
This meteor shower has a name “Orionids” and it gets this name because the shooting stars seem to radiate from the constellation Orion the Hunter. The traces of this meteor shower come from near the bright reddish star named Betelgeuse. You do not actually need to stare directly at Orion though because the meteors will shoot all across the sky.
Up to 20 meteors an hour
Under the best conditions you can expect to see somewhere between 10 and 20 meteors every single hour. Some rare years have given us incredible storms of up to 75 meteors an hour but this year we expect a normal steady display. Just remember that 20 an hour means you might wait a few minutes between sightings.
Find a dark spot
Watching the meteor shower in the city lights might not be a good idea as you might not able to look them properly. The best spot to watch such a beautiful event will be a dark rural location. You need to find a location where you can see them clearly. If your location has a safe hill area from where the sky is open, you can see this event from there as well.
Let your eyes adjust
Remember you need to watch the meteor shower by deeply focusing your eyes on the dark sky. Avoid using your phone camera, as this event might not last a minute. Therefore put your phone away and just lie down on your back and focus on the sky and wait for the meteor shower.
Colorful flashes
You might notice something weird about certain shooting stars. Fast space rocks like the Orionids do not always give off plain white light. Sometimes they show a striking green or orange color as they race across the sky. This occurs when comet fragments containing iron or sodium burn up brightly in the surrounding air for everyone to see clearly now.
Don’t miss it
Halley’s Comet will not actually return to the inner solar system until the year 2061. So watching the Orionids is our only yearly chance to connect with this legendary piece of space history. Grab a hot drink and enjoy the cosmic debris raining down on us tonight.
