Have you seen any meteors streaking across the sky this month? If they are coming from the northern sky, they might have been Draconids, whose peak has passed.
They also might be meteors in the annual Orionid meteor shower, which is now building to a peak this weekend, with no moonlight to interfere with the show.
Orionid meteors fly each year between about Oct. 2 to Nov. 7. That’s when Earth is passing through the stream of debris left behind by Comet Halley, the parent comet of the Orionid shower.
While Halley's comet itself won't be seen again until 2061, it sheds particles as it nears the sun, leaving debris in its orbit.
Earth passes through this material every October, creating a meteor shower that peaks around Oct. 21 and 22.
With the moon a thin waning crescent in the morning sky, now is a good time to start watching for Orionids.
How many meteors might you see on the peak night, or in the nights leading up to the shower? The word shower might give you the idea of a rain shower, but few meteor showers resemble showers of rain.
The Orionids aren’t the year’s strongest shower, and they’re not particularly known for storming (producing unexpected, very rich displays).
But from a dark location, in a year when the moon is out of the way at the peak you may see between 10 to 20 meteors per hour.
The Orionids are known to be fast and on the faint side, but can sometimes surprise you with an exceptionally bright meteor that might break up into fragments.
As is usual for most (but not all) meteor showers, the best time to watch the Orionids is in the dark hours before dawn.
If you catch any of the meteor shower share your photos with Sudbury.com by sending them to [email protected] to have them shared on our site.
