NASA calls the Orionids meteor shower one of the most beautiful shooting star shows of the year, and stargazers hardy enough to trudge out to a dark sky early Thursday morning should be rewarded, as long as the weather permits.
The Orionids peak overnight Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 21-22. Timing your trip outdoors is important for a couple of reasons. Almost without exception, the best viewing times are in the pre-dawn hours for meteor showers.
This year, a 77 percent full moon will cause some light interference early in the night, but it sets a few hours before dawn, at around 2:30 a.m. Eastern Time.Fast, Bright Shooting Stars
Under ideal conditions, between 10 or 20 meteors an hour should be visible, according to NASA.
What sets the Orionid meteor shower apart from other meteor showers is its brightness and speed, according to NASA. They are fast, traveling into Earth's atmosphere at about 41 miles per second, and are second only to the Leonids, which peak next month, and zoom in at about 44 miles per second.
Meteors that fast can leave glowing trains of incandescent bits of debris that last for several seconds to minutes in their wake. They can also produce fireballs — an intense flash or streak of light caused when a larger space rock enters Earth's atmosphere and heats up rapidly.
The brightest stars in the night sky lend a spectacular backdrop for the showy Orionids, which take their name from the constellation Orion, the familiar star pattern that includes the three stars of Orion's Belt.
That's where the meteors appear to originate, but don't be fooled. Orion isn't producing them. It's simply a handy celestial landmark.
And there's no need to stare directly at Orion to catch the action.
In fact, some of the best views are 45 to 90 degrees away from the constellation, where meteors appear to streak farther across the sky, NASA said. Those spotted closer to Orion tend to look shorter because of an optical effect called foreshortening.
The dazzling streaks of light we call shooting stars aren't stars at all. They're tiny bits of cosmic leftovers, mostly dust and debris shed by comets or fragments of asteroids.
As comets swing around the sun, they leave trails of dust and rocky particles in their wake. Earth passes through some of these debris fields at about the same time every year. When those particles slam into our atmosphere at tremendous speeds, they burn up, producing the colorful flashes and fiery streaks that make meteor showers such a spectacle.
The Orionids are a parting gift from Halley's Comet, one of the most famous celestial visitors in history.
Every time the comet makes its roughly 76-year journey around the sun, it leaves behind a little more ice, dust and rocky debris. Earth crosses those leftovers twice a year, producing the Eta Aquariid meteor shower in May and the Orionids in October.
Halley's Comet last made an appearance in 1986 and won't return until 2061. But it has been putting on a show for thousands of years. It even appears in the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts events surrounding the Norman conquest of England in 1066.
The comet takes its name from astronomer Edmond Halley, who figured out in 1705 that comets observed on three earlier occasions were actually the same one returning at regular intervals. He correctly predicted its return, although he didn't live to see it, according to NASA.
What NASA calls "Halloween fireballs" are possible with the Taurid meteor showers, which produce some of the brightest shooting stars of autumn.
The Northern and Southern Taurids are two branches of the same meteor shower, both made up of space debris associated with Comet Encke, and both underway now.
The Taurids aren't particularly prolific, producing only about five meteors an hour, but what they lack in numbers, they sometimes make up for in spectacle.
Their larger chunks of debris, left behind by Comet Encke, can blaze across the sky in brilliant flashes of color. NASA says Halloween fireballs can appear from mid-October into November, sometimes lingering long enough to give skywatchers more than a fleeting glimpse.
They get their names from the slightly different points in the constellation Taurus where their meteors appear to originate. The Southern Taurids peak in early November and the Northern Taurids about a week later.
Sign up for free local newsletters and alerts for the
Across America Patch
Patch.com is the nationwide leader in hyperlocal news.
Visit Patch.com to find your town today.