William Atkins
Tuesday, 21 October 2008 20:54
Science -
Space
Page 2 of 3
However, when they aggressively hit the outer atmosphere of the Earth at about 90,000 miles (145,000 kilometers) per hour—that’s about 25 miles (40 kilometers) per second—they make a brilliant show for people watching below.
Twice each year, Earth passes through this dust, which results in the Orionid meteor shower and the Eta Aquarid meteor shower, which appears in late April and early May.
Generally, the Orionids will be seen from our skies between October 15 to 29, but its peak number of meteors seen per hour should occur between October 20-22, 2008.
An expected 15 to 40 meteors per hour are expected at its peak.
People in the Northern Hemisphere should see about 20 meteors per hour at the peak, and observers in the Southern Hemisphere should see double that (40) during the most abundant number per hour.
To see a sky map for both the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere, go to
Meteor Showers Online. A brief history of the meteor shower is also present.
Reports of the Orionids have already appeared around the world. Read page three for more.
