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Watch the Orionids Meteor Shower Saturday

The Orionids meteor shower promises to be a show worth watching.

 

 

The offspring of Halley's Comet are about to put on quite a show in the skies.

Earth began passing through a stream of debris from Halley's Comet on Oct. 15, which gives us the benefit of the annual Orionids meteor shower—though you probably won't see much until a bit later.

The shower should be at its peak Saturday night until just before dawn on Sunday. This year, the moon will be setting at approximately midnight, which will keep the sky darkened enough that—barring cloud cover—you should be able to see 15 to 30 meteors per hour, according to Astronomy.com.

This is when and where the website indicates that viewing is best, according to Astronomy.com:

  • When: Saturday night into early Sunday morning, from midnight to 2 a.m.
  • Where to Look: Before midnight, look halfway up to the east; between midnight and 2 a.m., look overhead; from 2 a.m. to dawn, look halfway up in the west. (The meteors will appear to radiate from Orion.)

What makes this shower so cool? First of all, c'mon—it's a show of shooting stars.

Also, though, there's no question about where to look for this one. Meteor showers get their names from the constellations in the sky where they can be spotted. And what's easier to spot than Orion the Hunter?

The stars tend to shoot from Orion's club, pierce Taurus the Bull, the Gemini twins, Leo the Lion and finally, Canis Major, home of Sirius, the brightest star we can see—well, aside from the sun.

There's also something else that's special about this show: With the second-fastest entry velocity of all the annual meteor showers, meteors from the Orionids produce yellow and green colors and occasionally produce an odd fireball.

Related Topics: Astronomy and Orionids Meteor Shower

Ashley Ramirez

1:32 am on Saturday, October 20, 2012

Peak of Orionids Meteor Shower 2012 Live Online

http://bit.ly/ONZNMP

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