Heads up! With a little help from clear nighttime skies and warm temperatures, this month could be a great time to watch for falling stars. There are two meteor showers coming up.
Orionids Meteor Shower
Peak viewing period: October 20-21
The Orionids Meteor Shower is putting on its annual show from October 2 to November 7. The Orionids are generally considered to be an average meteor shower, with up to 20 meteors per hour during the peak viewing period, which will occur in the night of October 20 and early morning of October 21.
Draconids Meteor Shower
Peak viewing period: October 8
The Orionids Meteor Shower will overlap with the lesser-known Draconids Meteor Shower which runs annually from October 6-10. The peak viewing period for the Draconids will occur on the night of Sunday, October 8, with perhaps ten meteors per hour.
Good viewing conditions
The Draconids are a little more observer friendly than many of the other meteor showers, because rather than the peak viewing period occurring after midnight, the peak viewing period for the Draconids is early evening. So, it is more kid friendly as well as more sleep friendly.
Plus, the Draconids are known to occasionally put on spectacular shows, sometimes producing hundreds of meteors per hour. So, it is a good idea to be watchful throughout the month.
The phases of the moon can interfere with observing meteor showers, and the next full moon will not come until October 28. We started off the month with a waning gibbous moon on October 1, last quarter on October 6, new moon on October 14, and a first quarter on October 21 before the full Hunter’s Moon on October 28.
Meteor showers are named for the constellation from which they appear to originate. The Draconids will appear to radiate out of the constellation Draco while the Orionids appear to be radiating out of the constellation Orion. Draco is up there near the Big Dipper while Orion will be in the southern sky. But remember that the meteors may be observed anywhere in the sky.
So, take the time to occasionally check for meteors over the next few weeks. With a little luck, the meteor showers could provide some good entertainment.
