Orionid Meteor Shower 2006
Catch a Falling Star in October
The Orionid meteor shower is set to be one of the best meteor showers of the year. August's Perseids were spoiled by an almost full moon, but this weekend the sky should be nice and dark with a new moon scheduled on the 22nd. Moonlight spells trouble for meteors because its bright glow can make fainter streaks invisible.
The Orionid meteor shower experiences a broad peak, with activity running from October 20 to 22. This gives you a better shot of having one night cloud-free to get out and see the shooting stars.
Of course meteors are not stars at all, despite the pretty nickname. Most of the meteors you see will be caused by flecks of dust left behind by Halley's comet as it passed through the inner solar system. This dust ignites in the upper atmosphere, giving off the flash of light. Comet debris the size of pebbles causes the brighter meteors known as fireballs or bolides.
The best time to observe any meteor shower is before morning, provided, of course, that the radiant is above the horizon. In the hours before morning Earth is rotating into the now-absent comet's debris stream. Meteor showers can also be viewed after sunset, but they are usually less spectacular.
Meteor showers are usually named after the constellation from which they appear to emanate. Thus, the Orionid meteors appear to stream out of a region located near the constellation Orion. If you trace the meteors backward to the location they seemed to come from, you should find yourself looking at a point over Orion's shoulder, above the reddish star Betelgeuse.
In mid-October Orion begins to rise around 11 p.m. local time. It is then up for the remainder of the evening hours. So insomniacs feel free to peek out at the sky this weekend. You may have found a reason to lose a little sleep.
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