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posted by takyon on Wednesday October 21 2015, @12:08AM   Printer-friendly
from the falling-rocks dept.

The Orionid meteor shower peaks over the next couple nights (October 20/21). The Orionids are composed of debris from Halley's comet, which last visited the inner solar system in 1986 and will next visit in 2061.

takyon: NASA says:

"The Orionids will probably show weaker activity than usual this year," says Bill Cooke of the NASA Meteoroid Environments Office at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "Bits of comet dust hitting the atmosphere will probably give us about a dozen meteors per hour." The best time to look for Orionid meteors is just before sunrise this Thursday, Oct. 22, when Earth encounters the densest part of Halley's debris stream.

Observing is simple: set the alarm a few hours before dawn, go outside and look up in the direction of the constellation Orion. No telescope is necessary to see Orionids shooting across the sky. While the meteor count may be lower this year, viewing conditions are favorable, as the gibbous moon will set by 2 a.m. EDT time, permitting good viewing just before dawn when rates will be at their highest.

A live stream of the night sky from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center will be available via Ustream beginning October 21, at 10 p.m. EDT. [...] The next meteor shower on deck is the Leonids, with the peak expected from midnight until dawn on Nov. 18.


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  • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Wednesday October 21 2015, @06:00AM

    by aristarchus (2645) on Wednesday October 21 2015, @06:00AM (#252615) Journal

    The Orionids are special, being the remnants of Haley's. Mark Twain was born in a Haley's year, and died on one. I, for one, will be rising early, and praying for clear skies.

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