Orionid Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight October 21, 2009

Shooting Stars Promise Dramatic Display

The annual Orionid meteor showers occur from October 17^th to October 25^th and reach their peak on the Wednesday October 21^st and Thursday October 22^nd. Rates of 20 to 25 shooting stars an hour are expected with some estimates as high as 60 shooting stars per hour visible in the northeastern skies each hour until dawn. The crescent moon makes viewing more convenient as it sheds little light keeping the skies dark when shooting stars are most visible. Viewing is expected to be best just before dawn.

These fast moving shooting stars may appear either yellow or green and may produce fireballs creating a dramatic display of color in the night sky. If clear skies grace your area tonight, you will not want to miss this rapid-fire display of meteors as they flash across the sky.

What Causes Meteor Showers?

Comets shed ice and dusty debris as they orbit the sun. When the earth travels through the path of comet debris as they orbit the sun, we see a meteor shower. These falling stars appear in the night sky coming from the direction of the stream of comets.

Meteor showers get their name from the constellation where they originate. The orionid meteor shower appears in the constellation of Orion.

Are meteors and shooting stars the same thing?

People often call meteors shooting stars or falling stars. These bright flashes of light streak across the sky at thousands of miles an hour. The falling debris from comets ignites from friction as it enters the Earth's atmosphere some 30 to 80 miles above the surface. Although most meteors burn out long before reaching the earth, those that survive and hit the earth are called meteorites.

When meteors shoot across the sky, they are so bright that people often mistake them for a star falling to earth.

What is a fireball?