There's a meteor shower tonight! The Orionid meteor shower peaks this weekend and the night sky will give an impressive show as onlookers watch dozens of shooting stars.
The Orionid meteor shower reaches its peak overnight from Saturday, Oct. 20 to Sunday, Oct. 21. The Orionids were named after the constellation Orion, where they originate from.
This particular meteor shower occurs while the earth moves through an area of space that contains remaining debris from Halley's Comet, which produces about 25 meteors per hour, making it one of the best shows of the year, according to WPTV.
"Flakes of comet dust hitting the atmosphere should give us dozens of meteors per hour," Bill Cooke, head of the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA's Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., said on the NASA site.
"Since 2006, the Orionids have been one of the best showers of the year, with counts of 60 or more meteors per hour," Cooke continued.
The Orionid meteor shower will peak at about 12:00 a.m. PST on Sunday morning, but one of the best times to watch the show is about an hour or two before the sun rises, because Orion will be high in the sky. To find the best times to watch near you, check out Spacedex.
The moon is in the new moon stage and it will set around midnight, which will make the sky extra dark and perfect for watching stars. The only issue may be cloud coverage in some areas.
A telescope is not necessary to view a meteor shower. The best way to watch it is to lie down in an area with little lights and trees and look straight up.
The Orionid meteor shower can be seen from everywhere in the world except Antarctica. For those who can't see anything outside due to poor weather conditions or other issues, NASA will be live streaming the meteor shower as well as hosting a live chat.
Here is the video of the live stream. To follow the live chat, go to THIS LINK starting at 11p.m until 3a.m.
