Orionid meteors Oct 20-22

[frozentripper]

Might be something to watch where there are dark skies and there will be a mostly moonless night at that time. The Perseids in August were actually not bad with a few bright ones visible, probably mostly luck being there at the right time.

https://www.space.com/34373-orionid-meteor-shower-guide.html

 

[DuctTape]

I try to plan many of my trips around celestial events. Meteor showers are at the top of the list. Makes for a good excuse to go to the woods. The Orionids are not as well known as some of the other shows, but can still be impressive. Fun laying out under the stars and staring skyward. Besides the meteors, satellites can be seen.

 

[yknpdlr]

Dress warm, as the Orionids peak in late October, and most frequent meteor counts from any of the annual showers will always be seen after midnight (when our place on earth turns such that our orbital travel is facing, or "catching up with" the oncoming dust). Although the radiant (the perspective point where meteors in the stream appear to originate from) is in Orion (which rises around 0200), meteors may appear to streak in any part of the sky.

 

[frozentripper]

Speaking of needing to dress warm, there was a meteor shower in December that happened during a clear moonless night... freezing cold, but lots of meteors, about once a minute.

Binoculars really help to brighten and sharpen up the stars... as Orion climbs higher into the sky with winter coming on, the Orion nebula should be visible on clear nights. Something that I haven't worked out yet is to use the threaded tripod attachment to keep the binos on a large tripod which will eliminate handheld shake and make many more faint stars visible.

...most frequent meteor counts from any of the annual showers will always be seen after midnight (when our place on earth turns such that our orbital travel is facing, or "catching up with" the oncoming dust).

There just happened to be a radio science show on Saturday with some new science on space dust falling to earth... it seems a jazz musician was sitting at an outdoor table and a micrometeorite, a speck of space dust, fell onto the table in front of him. After scientists not believing the story, led to investigation and collection, and the story goes on from there.


http://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/your...with-cosmic-star-dust-1.4313845?autoplay=true

 

[frozentripper]

Just a reminder, friday night's looking good.


https://www.accuweather.com/en/weat...ent-viewing-conditions-in-eastern-us/70003043