Orionids meteor shower set for Oct. 21-22, 2007

William Atkins
Saturday, 20 October 2007 20:36

Science - Space

The meteor display called the Orionids, from parent body Halley’s Comet, is expected to be clearly visible in the dark skies away from light pollution and urban lights early in the morning just before sunrise. If the display is like last year it should produce about 20 to 60 meteors per hour.

The meteor shower called Orionids is called such because the meteors originate out of the region of the sky north of the second brightest star, Betelgeuse, in the constellation Orion. The meteors should be seen between Betelgeuse and the planet Mars.

The meteors should be faintly seen above the eastern horizon before midnight, but the Moon in the western sky will erase all but the most brilliant of the meteors. Several hours after midnight will begin the best time to observe, with around 5:00 a.m. predicted to be the best time to see the most meteors—when Orion is high in the sky toward the southeast.

Halley’s Comet is thought to be the origin of these meteors—from dust ejected as it orbits the Sun. The meteors will cross the Earth’s atmosphere at about 40 miles (65 kilometers) per second.

The display should repeat itself in the early mornings of Sunday and Monday, October 21 and 22, 2007. They will begin to fade in brilliance and numbers over the following days.

A sky map fixed at 4:00 a.m. October 21, 2007 and positioned looking southeast in the sky is found at: http://spaceweather.com/images2007/21oct07/skymap_north_orionids.gif.