2021 Orionid Meteor Shower nears its climax: Here’s when and how to watch this celestial show

Autumn is known as the meteor shower season because of the many rains that peak during the cool autumn nights, but this week Orionid meteor shower It may have some competition.

Orionid meteor shower

The Orionid meteor showers in October are known because they are one of the greatest meteor showers in the fall and because of their onset.

Meteor showers occur when Earth passes through a debris field left by an asteroid or comet, and Halley’s Comet It is the parent comet for Orionids.

Although Halley’s Comet won’t return to the inner solar system until 2061, the annual Orionids provide another chance to see the famous comet. According to the American Meteor Society, the Orionids will peak The night of Wednesday, October 20 until the early morning hours of Thursday, October 21 (AMS).

Since meteors appear to come from this region of the sky, the shower is named after the constellation Orion. On the other hand, falling stars will appear across the sky, not just at the point of radiation.

However, knowing where the radiation point is in the sky is still crucial because the higher it is, the more meteors will occur. The bright end of the Orionids will reach their highest position in the night sky in the hours before dawn, making the second part of the night the perfect time to view the spectacle.

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Great year for Georgians

Most years, the Orionids produce roughly 20 meteors per hour, but this year, observers should temper their expectations because the peak showers coincide with the Full Hunter’s Moon.

The full moon will shine brightly throughout the night, making some of the fainter stars even more difficult to see. However, with just 5 to 10 meters per hour, hourly rates may be halved.

light up the sky

(Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

For the peak of the Orionids, many places from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes will be partly to mostly cloudy, but a pocket in the mid-Atlantic might be lucky enough to see a break in the clouds Wednesday night.

The southern plains will also benefit from favorable weather conditions.

A broad storm will sweep through most of the West Coast and the Rocky Mountains, bringing with it devastating clouds, rain and mountain snow. The exception will be in parts of the southwestern desert and the Great Basin, where clouds sometimes break during the night.

After the Orionids, skywatchers may be looking forward to three additional small meteor showers in November.

The meteor showers will peak in southern Toride during the first week of November, followed by the northern Torres River in the second week of the month. Both conditions produce very impressive fireballs even though there are about five meteors every hour.

Leonids will reach its peak on the third day of the month and will be the best of 10 to 15 meteors per hour.

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