The Orionid meteor shower, happening through the end
of October, reaches its peak October 20-22 (Friday-Sunday). Luckily, the peak
nights for viewing are on a weekend; the best time for viewing the meteors,
which appear to radiate from the constellation Orion, is around 2 AM. Expect to
see about 20 meteors per hour.
The Orionids are named for the constellation they
appear to radiate from. They are specks of dust and debris left by Halley’s
Comet, which last made an appearance in 1986. Comets orbit the sun just like
Earth, and leave behind a trail of junk as they orbit. They are basically
giant, dirty snowballs and as they near the sun, they begin to melt somewhat,
causing the debris trail. If a planet’s orbit crosses the debris field,
whatever gets swept into the passing planet’s atmosphere will heat up and burn
from friction. Odds are, those bright streaks you see in the night sky are no
bigger than a grain of sand.
Meteor facts this week come from Space.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment