The Orinids

There is a good meteor shower next week that should peak around the time of the new moon. The meteorites are the crumbs left behind by Halley's comet. One of the most easily identifiable constellations in the Autumn sky is Orion. You can see the stars of his belt easily. It's a big constellation so you can't miss it. The meteors should look like they are coming from his upraised arm, in fact from our near neighbor Betelegeuse, a bright red star.

At the peak there should be 10 to 30 hits per hour. That could possibly be a nice fat shooting star every thirty seconds. These come in spurts so you could really see a spray of meteorites in the sky.

The new moon is the 22nd this month and the showers are maxed out from the 20th to the 24th. There ought to be at least one clear dark night to watch them.

The showers are best between 1AM and dawn so put on a nice warm sweater and break out the lawn chairs and watch the sky next weekend. I suggest a little mood music - some nice cool jazz would be best, how about Miles Davis and Birth of the Cool?