EVENT:  The annual Orionid meteor shower
DATES:  Very late evenings and early mornings, October 19 through the 22nd.
BEST OBSERVATION TIMES:  Probably from 11 pm on Saturday the 20th through 5 am on Sunday the 21st.  The Orionids are forecast to peak between 4 and 5 am.
DIRECTION:  Overhead and toward the east.
EQUIPMENT:  Warm clothing; if you happen to have binoculars or a telescope handy, check out Jupiter and the Milky Way, too.


As their name implies, the Orionid meteors appear to stream from a point just to the upper left of the constellation Orion the Hunter — I like to call them grounders from the Hunter's club.  Because they hit the earth almost head-on, they tend to streak across the sky very rapidly before burning up.  Orionids often leave smoky trails.
	 	 This year, the Orionids will peak in the east and southeast on the late evening and morning hours of the 19th through the 22nd.  The moon should set before midnight on these nights so its glare won't interfere with a moderate but dependable meteor shower.
	 	 Other sights will brighten the early morning sky.  The bright star Capella will be nearly overhead around 4 am. Jupiter is brighter and just south of Capella and the Dog Star Sirius will be shining near the southern horizon.  Between 3 and 4 am, Venus will rise in the east and outshine them all and, throughout the night, the Milky Way will arc overhead like a ghostly bucket handle.

NASA has information on the Orionid shower at <http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/12oct_orionids>.


	 	 	 Keep looking up!
	 	 	 - Bob Hamlin
	 	 	 <rhamlinatdartmouth.edu>

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