Bright Orionid meteors are set to light up the sky Thursday night, as Earth passes through debris left behind by Halley's Comet. But whether the moon will spoil the view is the question.
On the night of Thursday, October 20, to Friday, October 21, the sky is expected to light up with streaks of light due to the Orionid meteor shower.
Although the Orionids - the second of two meteor showers during the year that originate from Halley's Comet- go on for over a month, from early October to early November, the shower typically reaches its peak somewhere around October 20-24.
This year, the peak is expected on the night of October 20-21, as Earth passes through the greatest concentration of comet debris in Halley's trail.
Wait for the constellation of Orion - The Hunter - to rise that night to find the meteor shower's radiant, which is the point in the sky from which all the meteors appear to radiate out.
The Orionids, under ideal conditions, produces about 20 meteor streaks per hour. In other words, there should be zero light pollution, including no moon in the sky. Compared to meteor showers like the Perseids and the Geminids, which can produce over 100 meteors per hour, the Orionids are weaker.
Earlier, this happened during the 2007 shower, when the meteor rate jumped up to 70 per hour!
This year is not expected to be an outburst, and the waning gibbous moon will be in the sky that night, tracking along right next to the radiant from the time they both rise (about 10:30 p.m. local time) until dawn. So, unfortunately, the moon's light will end up washing out many of the meteors, making this particular shower difficult to see.
The shower originates from the point near the constellation Orion, which rises in the east around 10:30 p.m. and then traces a path towards the south, climbing higher in the sky with each passing hour, until dawn.
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