Subsequent to the Geminids of December and the Perseids of August, essentially the most dependable of the annual shows of “capturing stars” are the October Orionids.
The Orionid meteor bathe usually lasts from about Oct. 16 to 26. Just a few swift Orionids might seem as early as the beginning of October and a lingering straggler or two as late as Nov. 7. The numbers seen by anyone observer have a tendency to succeed in a most of round 20 per hour when circumstances are clear and darkish and the bathe radiant level close to the Orion-Gemini border is properly up within the sky.
Sadly, this 12 months, the Orionids are going to face a formidable handicap. When these meteors attain their peak early on Monday morning (Oct. 21), the waning gibbous moon will probably be within the sky virtually all evening lengthy. Therefore, its glare will severely hamper observations in 2024.
The meteors are generally known as “Orionids” as a result of the meteors appear to fan out from a area to the north of Orion’s second brightest star, the ruddy hued Betelgeuse.
At present, Orion seems forward of us in our journey across the solar, and has not utterly risen above the jap horizon till after 11:30 p.m. native daylight time. These meteors are at their greatest in the course of the predawn hours at round 5 a.m. — Orion will then be highest within the sky towards the south. Since Orion’s well-known three-star belt straddles the celestial equator, the Orionids are one among only a handful of recognized meteor showers that may be noticed equally properly from each the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
Often Orionid meteors are usually dim and never properly seen from city places, so it is steered that you just discover a protected rural location to see the very best Orionid exercise. After peaking on Monday morning, exercise will start to slowly descend, dropping again to round 5 per hour round Oct. 25.
However the moon “muscle tissue in”
Though the moon already turned full this previous week and is now on the wane, it should nonetheless have an opposed impression on this 12 months’s Orionids. On the morning of the Orionid most on Monday, it is going to be fairly near the star El Nath within the close by constellation of Auriga; an 80% illuminated gibbous moon, flooding the sky with its vibrant gentle.
So though the Orionids will probably be at their peak, many of those streaks of sunshine will possible be obliterated by the brilliant moonlight. Nonetheless, an exceptionally vibrant Orionid would possibly nonetheless entice consideration. Current research have proven that about half of all Orionids which might be seen depart trails that lasted longer than different meteors of equal brightness.
Halley’s Legacy
The Orionids are sometimes called the “legacy of Halley’s Comet.” In truth, these tiny flecks of mud are merely the cosmic litter that the comet has left behind in area alongside its orbit from earlier passages across the solar.
Meteoroids which might be launched out into area are the remnants of a comet’s nucleus. All comets finally disintegrate into meteor swarms and Halley’s is properly into that course of right now.
These tiny particles — principally ranging in dimension from mud to sand grains — stay alongside the unique comet’s orbit, making a “river of rubble” in area. Within the case of Halley’s comet, which has possible circled the solar many tons of, if not hundreds of occasions, its soiled path of particles has been distributed roughly uniformly all alongside its total orbit. When these tiny bits of comet collide with Earth, friction with our ambiance raises them to white warmth and produces the impact popularly known as “capturing stars.”
The orbit of Halley’s Comet carefully approaches the Earth’s orbit at two locations. One level is within the early a part of Might, producing a meteor show generally known as the Eta Aquarids. The opposite level comes within the center to latter a part of October, producing the Orionids. Step exterior earlier than dawn throughout this weekend and onto a lot of subsequent week, and in case you catch sight of a meteor, there’s a couple of 75 p.c likelihood that it possible originated from the nucleus of Halley’s Comet.
So, for people like me, who want to see Halley once more, however most likely will not (it will not be again till the 12 months 2061) we’ll should accept the Orionids as a comfort prize.
Joe Rao serves as an teacher and visitor lecturer at New York’s Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Pure Historical past journal, the Farmers’ Almanac and different publications.
