Leah Androski
reporter3.riverbendnews@gmail.com
One of the most beautiful meteor showers is considered to be the Orionid Meteor Shower. This spectacular sky show becomes active in late September and remains active until late November. This year, however, the peak of the shower is this weekend, with the best viewing times from midnight on Friday, Oct. 20, until dawn on Saturday, Oct. 21. The moon is expected to set around midnight, which will help darken the skies for better viewing. Between midnight and dawn, there will be an estimated 10-20 meteors produced per hour.
The Orionid Meteor Shower is named for the constellation Orion, which can be easily spotted in the night sky by finding the three bright stars that make up Orion’s Belt. However, viewers should not just look towards Orion’s Belt all night but should continually move their eyes around and gaze upon nearby constellations, as well.
The Orionid Meteor Shower comes from leftover comet particles and bits from broken asteroids. When comets rotate around the Sun, the dust they leave behind spreads into a trail around their orbits. The Earth eventually passes through the debris-filled trails, which allows the bits to collide with the Earth’s atmosphere, where they disintegrate and create fiery and colorful streaks in the sky. Orionid meteors are known for their brightness and speed. They travel around 148,000 mph into Earth’s atmosphere. Fast meteors can leave glowing “trains,” which could last from seconds to minutes. Fast meteors can also become fireballs, as well.
The Orionids meteors come from the comet 1P/Halley. Every time Halley’s Comet returns to the inner solar system, it sheds debris into space. The dust grains eventually form into the Orionids in October and the Eta Aquarius in May.
Halley’s Comet takes about 76 years to orbit the Sun once. The last time Halley’s Comet was seen was in 1986, and is due to reenter our view in 2061.
So, find an area away from the city or street lights; an open field or somewhere with little to no trees; have a sleeping bag, blanket or lawn chair; or lie flat on your back and settle in for a fantastic meteor sky show!