Orionid Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight!

Annual Meteor Shower Is fall highlight

Any excuse to go outside and look up at the stars right? The stars are putting on another show tonight, into the early hours of tomorrow morning. The Orionid meteor shower reaches its peak overnight tonight, October 21.

And here’s my advice: set that alarm and get outside before sunrise tomorrow morning!

The Orionids are caused by debris left behind by one of the most famous objects in our solar system, Halley’s Comet. As Earth travels through the comet’s dusty trail, tiny particles slam into our atmosphere at roughly 66 kilometres per second, creating those beautiful streaks of light we call shooting stars.

Under ideal conditions, the shower can produce around 10 to 20 meteors per hour. Your mileage may vary, of course, and this year’s timing is what will dictate how many you see. A near full moon will wash out the fainter meteors before it sets overnight.

when & where

That’s why the best viewing opportunity should come in the hours before dawn on October 22.. Around 3 a.m. in Simcoe County is a good target, although the exact moonset depends on where you live. Give yourself a couple of hours before sunrise if you can.

So where should you look? Find Orion, the hunter, in the sky. The meteors appear to radiate from a point near Betelgeuse, (say it three times and he willl appear) the constellation’s distinctive reddish star. But don’t spend the whole time staring at Orion! The meteors can streak across almost any part of the sky, and looking farther away from the radiant can reveal longer, more spectacular trails.

Find a dark spot away from streetlights, dress for the chilly October weather, grab a comfortable chair, and give your eyes 20 to 30 minutes to adjust.

I'll be set up on the beaches of Wasaga, to the east of the main end.

You might see one shooting star. You might see several. You might see something else crazy!