Tips To Watch The Orionid Meteor Shower Peak Tonight

October 20 2020

This month has been busy with nighttime sky events. One of the biggest ones reaches the peak tonight and tomorrow night. The Orionid Meteor Shower always occurs between October 2 and November 7, but tonight is when the most are expected to streak across the sky.

Here is a list of info, how to watch the show, and the weather.

 

The Orionids

This meteor shower gets its name for the region where it is found. This is on the edge of the one oof the most famous constellations in the sky: Orion, The Hunter.

 

 

What is this meteor shower?

The dust from the famous Halley’s Comet remains in the path of Earth’s Orbit. Our planet passes through this field, and brings the particles into our atmosphere.

 

 

The dust and small rocks burn up in the atmosphere leaving a streak of light often referred to as a shooting star.

The entire shower lasts more than a month, but the most activity is overnight on October 21 and 22. This should be just as good both nights.

 

How many may be seen?

10 to 20 per hour is normal.

30 can occur in prime conditions. That would average 1 every 2 minutes.

 

Fast Meteors

This is known for a higher speed thank other meteor showers. Moving at 41 miles per second,  if you blink you might miss some of the good streaks of light.

 

What time is it?

The peak of the show will be begin after 12:30 AM up to about 5:30 AM.  Either stay up late, or wake up early.

 

Where To Look

• After midnight, Orion will rise. Look to the Southeast and find Orion as shown below.
• If you wake up early, this will be almost directly overhead, a little to the south before dawn.
• The brightest star Betelgeuse is above the three line belt. Be careful not to say that name three times in a row.
• The radiant or center point is to the upper left of the Betelgeuse.

 

 

 

Weather: Can You See It?

Here is the Visible Satellite Loop up to sunset.  The high clouds that passed through central Maryland and southern Pennsylvania lifted north. We should have a clear sky.

 

Temperatures

Use this widget to zoom in and see the temperatures by you.  Most of our region will be in the 50s.

Try this:

• Use the Orange Button to slide the timeline on your own. Or hit the Play Button at the lower left.
• You can also pinch to zoom or move the map.

 

 

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