Don’t Miss the Meteor Shower Made of Fragments of Comet Halley
Set your alarm for early on the morning of October 21 to catch some bright shooting stars.
Photo by Austin Human on Unsplash
Early (really early!) on the morning of October 21, gaze up for a spectacular meteor show. Every October, Earth travels through the debris of Halley’s Comet, creating the Orionid meteors, and that Monday is the day.
The best time to view the Orionid meteor shower is between midnight and dawn, no matter the time zone. Bits of dust from Halley’s Comet will hit Earth’s atmosphere, producing around 12 meteors per hour. Showers will be at the highest rate before sunrise. Unfortunately, this year a moon only a few days removed from being full will drown out some dimmer meteors—but then again, the Orionid shower is known for producing particularly bright shooting stars, so with luck you should see something.
Look in the direction of the constellation Orion. The meteors will seem to be originating from this spot in the sky. You’ll find Orion by its three bright stars (his belt) aligned together. Orion’s belt always points to the brightest star in the sky, Sirius.
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Set your alarms a few hours before dawn for the best meteor show. But if you’ve got bad viewing conditions, live streams are available—keep clicking around until you find one based in a place with clear skies.
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