It ’s a effective month for sky lovers . Last week , there was anannular solar eclipsewas visible across the Americas , and next week a fond lunar eclipse will be visible rough in the relaxation of the world . And for everyone , there is the Orionid meteor shower that , like the eponymous constellation , is visible from both hemisphere at the moment .
The meteor incline to be seeable from early October until the first calendar week of November , but the time is now to see them at their peak . This is bear to be on October 22 , andthe International Meteor Organizationexpects to see at least 20 meteors per time of day . There have been outbursts some year in the last few ten , some with more than 70 and even 100 per hour , but this year does n’t seem to be one .
The name of the shower comes from the constellation of Orion , as it appears to glow just above and to the leftfield of Betelgeuse . And that ’s the easy mode to find it . count for Orion , find its shoulder , and follow it due north - due east towards Gemini . There will be the radiant . The best time to look on either cerebral hemisphere is around midnight , but it is slightly sooner in the Northern hemisphere .
All meteor showers are debris from comets or asteroids , and the Orionids are the leftover cloud of fragments left by the most famous comet there is : Halley ’s Comet . Halley ’s comet pass through the Solar System every 75/76 years ( next handing over in mid-2061 ) and as it come near the Sun , it begins to evaporate and miss bits , polluting its compass with debris .
The ambit of the comet is inclined compared to the Earth ’s orbital cavity . It has ascending lymph node and fall nodes , depending on the focal point of the comet . Our planet passes through near these client , interact with the dust so we get the tip in the Orionids ( in October ) and the Eta Aquarids ( in May ) . Although the Eta Aquarids are consider to be no longer affected by the comet and are now disjoined from it .
You wo n’t call for a telescope or binoculars . They are visible to the raw eye – and there is another reason why putz are not gon na assist . These shooting star are pretty fast , moving at about 66 kilometer ( 41 miles ) per second , so it ’s easy to trace them with just your straits .
