Orionid Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight; Enjoy the Sky View With Your Family and Loved Ones

Below are the activities of the Sky from 19-25 October, and tonight is Orionid Meteor Shower Peaks! 

19

Uranus at opposition on October 19

20

Orionid meteor shower peak tonight!

21

Keep watching for Orionid meteors

22 Spot moon, Antares, Saturn after sunset

23

Moon, Saturn on October 23 and 24

24

Moon swings to apogee on October 24

25

Moon near Pluto on October 25 and 26

This weekend presents the Orionid meteor shower at its best, and tonight – the night of October 20-21, 2017 – may well be the shower’s peak night. Late Saturday night and Sunday morning may be good times to watch as well. On both of these nights, meteors should become visible starting at late evening. They’ll probably be most prolific in the few hours before dawn on October 21, but try watching before dawn on October 22, too.

From a dark site, you might see a maximum of about 10 to 15 meteors per hour.

Fortunately, today is only one day after new moon, so there’ll be no moonlight to ruin this year’s Orionid meteor shower. In fact, it will hard to catch the young waxing crescent moon low in the west after sunset..

As is standard for most meteor showers, the best time to watch this shower will be between the hours of midnight and dawn – regardless of your time zone.

The meteors – vaporizing bits of comet ice and dust – will look like streaks of light in the night sky. They’re sometimes called shooting stars .

Bottom line: Best night for the Orionid meteor shower in 2017 is probably October 20-21, especially between midnight and dawn October 21. You might see as many as 10 to 15 meteors per hour from a dark site. Fortunately, no moon will ruin this year’s Orionid meteor shower.

Culled from Earthsky

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