Title: |
Orionid Meteor Showers |
Location: |
Hawaiian Island Viewing |
Date / Time: |
Oct 21, 2006 - 10:00pm |
Comments: |
The annual ORIONID METEOR SHOWER peaks on October 21 this year, concurrent with our KEASA public Starwatch & during new Moon, which means the sky will be dark the entire night. The Orionids are a great fall shower - lots of meteors, many leaving persistent trains, & longer nights. Orionid meteors appear to originate or "radiate" from the constellation Orion, "the hunter," which will be rising (from the East) by 10:00 PM. The actual "peak" of the shower is at approx. 4 AM the morning of Oct. 21st, so you may want to start watching for meteors late night & early morning hours of the 20th as well as the 21st. We might expect to see approx. 20 meteors/hour at the peak, STREAKING at an average velocity of 41 miles per SECOND!
Meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through the path of a comet. The bits of debris left behind by the comets, most no larger than a grain of sand, create a spectacular light show as they enter the Earth's atmosphere. It is wonderful to think, as we observe these Orionid meteors, that we are seeing pieces of debris from the famous Halley's Comet. |
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Maintained by Roz Reiner - Kauai, Hawaii
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