Tonight is Peak Viewing Time for the Orionid Meteor Shower
Posted on October 20, 2012
Tonight is the night to see the Orionid meteor shower reach its maximum. The peak will occur just before sunrise Sunday morning. NASA says that if you get away from urban areas and have clear, dark skies you could see dozens of meteors an hour. The shower will be equally visible from Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
Moonset will be early tonight, so the moon will be much less of a factor than usual. The meteor shower is called the Orionids because they can be viewed from the north of Betelgeuse, which is part of the constellation Orion. The fireballs appear to emanate from Orion's club. The constellation Orion is visible this time of year after 11:00 pm local time. The best viewing will be from around 2:00 a.m. local time until 5:00 am local time on the southern horizon when Orion is at its highest position in the sky.
The meteors are leftovers from Halley's Comet's last passage through the inner solar system more than 26 years ago. Tonight's meteors will be fast moving and should be pretty spectacular. Go here to find the best viewing time for your location (scroll to the bottom of the page).
Update: Here is some great timelapse footwage captured during the Orionid meteor shower. Take a look: