The Orionids meteor shower is now visible in the pre-dawn sky.
Image Credit: Wikimedia commons
October 03, 2020 - 4:30 PM
The annual Orionid meteor shower begins making its nightly celestial appearance in Kamloops and Okanagan night skies this month.
The Orionids, considered to be one of the most beautiful meteor showers of the year, should peak around Oct. 21 but they are now visible during the hours just before dawn.
The meteor shower occurs annually. This year it's visible between Oct. 2 and Nov. 7, as the Earth passes through the debris stream left behind by Halley’s Comet, according to Earthsky.org
The Orionids are at their most intense in the pre-dawn hours, with a peak of 10 to 20 meteors an hour expected.
The meteors are viewable in the eastern sky, near the constellation Orion, the hunter.
With the moon in its crescent phase on Oct. 21, there won’t be much light to interfere with the meteor display as the moon will also be below the horizon before the shower begins.
The Orionids are classified as a medium-strength shower that has produced low to average displays in recent years, says space.com
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