Natural History Wanderings

EarthSky Reports

Orionid meteors fly each year between about October 2 to November 7.

That’s when Earth is passing through the stream of debris left behind by Comet Halley, the parent comet of the Orionid shower.The words meteor 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). From a dark location, in a year when the moon is out of the way, you might reliably see 10 to 20 Orionids per hour at their peak. Will you see that many in 2018? Well … maybe. You would need to be watching on the peak morning of October 21, in the brief time between moonset and the onset of morning twilight.

Read more at Look for Orionid meteors this month | Astronomy Essentials | EarthSky