In October, you can see meteors flying across the sky again. Orionid meteors are fast, but observing them will still be difficult in 2024.
MUNICH – When the nights get longer again in October and start early, it's a good time to count the shooting stars. The periodic stream of Orionid meteors extends almost throughout October — but faces a problem in 2024: The Moon is still more than half illuminated around the maximum meteor and is in the sky almost all night. The moonlight is likely to be obscured by many shooting stars. But with a little luck, you can still catch one or two orionid meteors in the sky.
| name: | Orionides |
| He writes: | A periodic stream of meteors |
| pedigreed: | Comet 1P/Halley |
| Activity period: | From October 2 to November 7 |
| maximum: | October 21 |
| Shooting stars per hour (ZHR): | 20 |
| Star shooting speed: | 237,600 kilometers per hour |
| Source: Al-Nayyak International Organization |
Orionid shooting stars are formed by comet 1P/Halley
Orionid shooting stars are created when Earth flies through a cloud of dust left in space by Comet 1P/Halley once a year. Tiny dust particles penetrate the Earth's atmosphere and cause the glow that is seen on Earth as a shooting star. Orionid meteors appear to emanate from the constellation Orion; More precisely, the proximity of the bright star Betelgeuse is considered a meteor radiant. Betelgeuse is also of great interest for research.
However, this doesn't mean that you should only set your sights on the Orion constellation to see meteors. Meteors can appear anywhere in the sky – if you trace their path, they'll very likely land near the star Betelgeuse in the constellation Orion. The Orionids are a very fast stream of shooting stars: the speed of the meteors is 66 kilometers per second – this equates to an unimaginable speed of 237,600 kilometers per hour.
Orionid maximum on October 21: Up to 20 meteors per hour – theoretically
Orionid meteors race across the sky from October 2 to November 7; Experts have set the maximum meteor flow to be October 21. The Earth then crosses the densest part of the dust path in space. The International Meteor Organization expects a maximum of about 20 meteors per hour. However, this value, called the zenith hour rate (ZHR), does not refer to the meteor that is actually visible, but rather everything that can be observed within an hour under ideal observing conditions.
However, ideal observing conditions are nearly impossible – especially with a relatively full moon, which is also close to radiant. The moon rises in the east around 9 p.m. on the evening of the Orionide maximum. At around 11 p.m., Betelgeuse rises over the horizon to the east, followed by the entire Orion constellation. Orion and the Moon move together across the sky throughout the night, and you won't be able to see many meteors in these conditions. (unpaid bill)
More Stories
Exploding Fireball: Find the meteorite fragments
Neuralink's competitor lets blind people see again with an implant
A huge meteorite has hit Earth – four times the size of Mount Everest