Orionid Meteor Shower Promises Bright Sky Show This Week

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Astrophotographer BG Boyd captured this Orionid meteor shower several miles outside of Tucson, Arizona, in October 2014.
Credit: BG Boyd/www.bgboydphoto.com
Even before the start of 2015, assiduous meteor observers were aware that this was going to be an excellent year for some of the best of the annual meteor displays.
The August Perseids nearly coincided with a new moon, and the upcoming December Geminids will peak when the moon is just a narrow crescent in the early evening skies.
Now, one of the more reliable meteor showers — sort of a junior version of the Perseids — is set to reach its maximum before sunrise on Thursday morning (Oct. 22). This upcoming display is known as the Orionids, because the meteors seem to fan out from a region to the north of the constellation Orion's second-brightest star, ruddy Betelgeuse.


Currently, Orion appears to be ahead of Earth as the planet journeys around the sun, and the constellation has not completely risen above the eastern horizon until after 11:00 p.m. local daylight time. So expect to see few, if any, Orionid meteors before midnight — especially this year, with a bright waxing gibbous moon glaring high in the western sky.
But moonset is around 1:30 a.m. local daylight time on Thursday, and that's a good time to begin preparing for your meteor vigil. The shower will peak several hours later, at around 5 a.m., when Orion will be highest in the sky toward the south. Around that time, under clear, dark skies, skywatchers could see 20 to 25 "shooting stars" per hour.  


Activity revving up

Typically, Orionid meteors are normally dim and can't be seen very well from urban locations, so you should try to find a safe rural location to see the best Orionid activity. Lie down on a long lawn chair or inside a sleeping bag and look overhead toward the southern part of the night sky.
Orionid activity has already begun ramping up. Paul Jones of St. Augustine, Florida was watching last Saturday morning (Oct. 17) from his "trusty rooftop meteor perch" and took advantage of crystal-clear skies.
"I managed to get 22 total meteors with nine Orionids between 4:30 and 5:30 a.m. EDT," Jones wrote on the Meteorobs Internet mailing list. "That's more than I was expecting, to be sure. Far too soon to say how that portends for the actual maximum."
He added: "The dark, clear, sharp skies this morning helped me out a lot! The faint but beautiful winter Milky Way stood out sharp as a tack as it crossed the meridian!"

source:Space.com

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