Orionid Meteor Shower
There’s gonna be the annual meteor shower tonight at predawn hours. This meteor shower happens when Halley passes around the sun on its elongated orbit – every 76 years – it lays down a fresh track of debris for Earth to plow through in subsequent years. Those tracks spread out and mingle over time, and we pass the tracks each October during our 365-day, nearly circular trek around the sun.
The best time to watch will be between 1 a.m. and dawn local time Wednesday morning, regardless of your location. That’s when the patch of Earth you are standing on is barreling headlong into space on Earth’s orbital track, and meteors get scooped up like bugs on a windshield.
Peak activity, when Earth wades into the densest part of the debris, is expected around 6 a.m. ET (3 a.m. PT).
Some meteors could show up late tonight, too. Late-night viewing typically offers fewer meteors, however, because your patch of Earth is positioned akin to the back window of the speeding car.
The Orionids have been strong in recent years. So if you have plans to watch, bring a blanket with you and your love one to enjoy the show 
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Tags: halley's comet, orionid meteor shower, orionids
This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 at 5:07 pm and is filed under Daily Dose. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
