An Orionid Meteor, Courtesy Rich Swanson

I remember when I was 14 years old, in the backyard, looking for Halley’s comet in the cold of winter.  I figured that I might not be around for the comet’s next trip through our solar system (2061), so I got myself outside to have a look.   I’m glad I did.   But…. we’ll (sort of) be able to see it again the next 3 mornings with the Orionid Meteor Shower.

As a comet travels through the inner solar system, it evaporates and breaks apart.  What’s left behind is a rocky debris field floating through space.  Halley’s comet last came through our solar neighborhood in 1985/1986, but the Earth will be travelling through a Halley debris field 3 to 4,000 years old.  For the next 3 days, we’ll be travelling through that ancient extra-terrestrial rock.  We’ll see it in our sky as meteors or shooting stars.   

Experts estimate that it’s possible to see 60 meteors an hour (that’s one per minute).  However, Dean David Targan of Brown University told me that because of light pollution in our area, we’ll likely see a lot less.  Expect to see about 10-20 per hour. 

To see the show, here’s what you need to do:

• Between 4 and 6am, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings….Set your alarm clock!
• Avoid the city lights, a more rural setting would be best (even northwest Rhode Island would make a big difference).
• Look to the Southeast Sky.  The meteors will shoot across the sky.  However, the meteors will appear to come from the constellation Orion.  Look for Orion’s belt (three stars in a line together).  Look just to the left of that.   That’s where the meteors will appear to come from. 

In addition to seeing the meteors, you’ll be able to see the planet Mars just to the left of Orion. 

Here’s a map of our sky the next few mornings.