Orionids Meteor Shower Peaks on Oct. 21

If clouds and rain don’t take over the sky, we may be able to see as many as 25 meteors per hour in the pre-dawn light of Tuesday, Oct. 21.

The Orionids meteor shower is a favorite: With the second-fastest entry velocity of all the annual meteor showers, meteors from the Orionids produce yellow and green colors and occasionally produce the odd fireball.

There’s no question about where to look for this one. Meteor showers get their names from the constellations in the sky where they can be spotted. And what’s easier to spot than Orion the Hunter?

The stars tend to shoot from Orion’s club, pierce Taurus the Bull, the Gemini twins,Leo the Lion and finally, Canis Major, home of Sirius, the brightest star we can see, aside from the sun.

But we have the weather to contend with — cloudy and a chance of rain. If Tuesday doesn’t pan out, EarthSky suggests going outside between midnight and dawn on Wednesday, Oct. 22. If you do venture forth, be sure to wear a raincoat!

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Todd Richissin (Patch National Staff) contributed to this report. Photo by j-dub1980(THANK YOU FOR 100k+ Views), via flickr creative commons