Orionid Meteor Shower Forecast to Peak Overnight October 21-22

The Orionid meteor shower is forecast to reach its annual peak overnight October 21-22, with the best chance of seeing meteors expected before dawn. Visibility will depend on local cloud cover and darkness, and a bright Moon is likely to obscure some of the fainter streaks earlier in the night. The shower occurs as Earth passes through dust and debris left by Halley’s Comet. As the particles enter the atmosphere at high speed, they burn up and appear as brief streaks of light. The meteors seem to radiate from the constellation Orion, which gives the shower its name, but viewers do not need to look directly at that point in the sky. Under ideal dark conditions, the Orionids may produce up to 20 meteors per hour, though that is a potential rate rather than a guaranteed count. Meteors can appear in bursts followed by periods with none. The shower is known for fast-moving meteors and can occasionally produce brighter fireballs. Moonlight is expected to make viewing more difficult during much of the peak period. The Moon is in a waxing gibbous phase and is expected to set before dawn; the darker hours afterward may provide a better opportunity to see the display. The peak is...