Don’t Miss This Year’s Orionid Meteor Shower

Meteor Shower in the night sky with a tent
Photo by Cylonphoto/Shutterstock

If you like wishing upon a star, you’ll have plenty of opportunities this month and next with the Orionid meteor shower that is set to peak today and yesterday (Oct. 20-21) and continue through early November, space.com reports. According to NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke, meteors are pieces of Comet IP/Halley, otherwise known as Halley’s Comet—and it makes a visit to Earth once every 75 to 76 years. This means that the majority of people will only see it once in their lifetime, if at all. Varying in intensity from year to year, skywatchers are expecting about 15 to 20 meteors per hour this year and Orionid meteors are known for darting across the sky at a relative speed of about 148,000 mph. “If you blink, you might miss them,” Cooke said.


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