The second meteor shower of October 2008, the Orionids are said to be the dust particles of the renowned Halley’s Comet (IP/Halley) that last visited us in its 75-76 year orbit somewhat unspectacularly in 1986. As dust particles and rock fragments remain in the orbit of the comet they find themselves crossing the path of earth each year in the heart of October. Halley’s Comet is also accountable for an additional meteor shower in May called the Eta Aquarids. The 2008 Orionids Meteor Shower will take place amid October 15 to 29 with peak viewing times from October 20 to 22. For best viewing of the these blistering swift (90,000+ mph) meteors look for the constellation Orion the Hunter anytime later than midnight until a few hours prior to daybreak and observe the meteors dart from the red/orange star named Betelgeuse contained by the constellation. Commonly meteors can be seen anyplace in the heavens, but you will detect most streaming from a position in the sky known as the radiant. The name Orionids is resulting from the fact that the meteor shower’s radiant is located near Orion the Hunter, hence giving them their name. Unfortunately because these aren’t the largest meteors, quick speeds and combined with a last quarter moon (half illuminated), the Orionids may not be that impressive. For meteor shower enthusiasts it’s always worthwhile viewing and you never know, you may see a fireball!
Orionids Meteor Shower Where to Look
on Oct 20th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
I was on my way to work this morning at approx 3 45 am cst October 20, 2008. I saw a huge green ball with a tail of half the horizon.It lit up the sky. I’m 50 yrs old and this is a first for me. I feel lucky! If anyone saw this please let me know.
on Oct 20th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Yes, I have been telling everyone of the greatest falling star I have ever seen. As I was having my first cup of coffee this a.m. sitting in my lawnchair, I witnessed this greenish firebrand fall from the sky, seemingly breaking up at the end. It reminded me of a fireworks trailer, very slow and beautiful. Pacific, Mo.
on Oct 20th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Just saw a meteor with a long tail from east to west behind the fire station. The most beautiful I’ve seen in a long time…Bentonville, Arkansas
on Oct 20th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Thanks to all for sharing your experiences. Bookmark the site and always let me know when you see a meteor. I have some good news! Stay tuned for next month!
on Oct 21st, 2008 at 6:41 pm
I just saw it!!!! I’m in awe! This is the second one I’ve ever seen!!! I saw one in September on the 27th I think (it was a sunday night) 2008.
It’s the most unbelievable and beautiful thing I’ve ever seen! I wonder if anyone knows if there might be anymore on Nov 21st? best way to spend my 22nd birthday!
I glimped a darting yellow speck around 12:25am, did anyone else see it?
Yikes! I’m so excited about all of this!!
on Oct 21st, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Sophia,
Good meteor news for your birthday!
1st) Happy Birthday!
2nd) You’re in Luck!
3rd) Bookmark My Site
4th) There is a stronger more active meteor shower than the Orionids Meteor that you saw last night! The shower takes place during the week of your birthday, check back with me as I will be writing about that meteor shower and quite possibly the best time to see it may be NOV 21 we’ll wait and see!
Keep looking up!
- Meteor Mark
on Oct 21st, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Spent couple of days at south Padre Island and was up at 6am having coffee on balcony and saw 6-8 meteors, didn’t know of meteor shower til then. It was great to see, saw some by the Big Dipper also saw 2 big ones in Orion, one was awesome, left a streak in sky for several seconds before it disappeared and a fireball also. Glad we have internet to check on things like these to confirm! Thanks for all your input. My B-DAY Nov. 30–will be watching sky tonight and also in Nov.
on Oct 21st, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Thanks for all the comments. Next month the meteors and I will be real busy providing excitement for all these birthdays I see coming up!
-Meteor Mark
“Keep Your Head Up”
on Oct 21st, 2008 at 10:07 pm
We went out to a locale lake and saw several that were massive, intensely bright, and all absolutely breathtaking. it was a beautiful night.
on Oct 22nd, 2008 at 5:04 am
I was on my way to work this morning at around 5:40am and saw this huge green trail fireball come down from the sky. at first it scared me. I was thinking on what damage it had done if it hit a house. This had to be very large because of the size of the fireball. I’m 46 years old and saw shooting stars in the past but this tops it all.
on Oct 22nd, 2008 at 3:54 pm
I Saw 33 meteors between the 20th and 21st for a combined time of 6 hours. Some were bright some were small. I’ve seen a meteor fireball in the daylight that sounds like the ones you are describing but this was a couple years ago. Bastop, TX.
on Oct 23rd, 2008 at 6:42 am
Just got home from meteor-watching. Most of the meteors I saw this morning came from the East-Northeast where The Dipper was sitting. I didn’t see any coming from Orion.
I also saw a relatively slow-moving object that was definitely not a satellite because a. the light it emitted was variable – going from dim to VERY bright and then diminishing as it vanished from sight
b. it did not travel in a path that crossed the sky and c. it was visible for less than a minute. The time was approximately 6 a.m. and I saw it in the East-Northeast quadrant of the sky. Did anyone else see it?
on Oct 23rd, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Sofia,
If the meteors seemed to streak toward “The Big Dipper” and were seen near it, try to remember if you can trace their backward direction to hit upon their apparent radiant. You may discover that they did in fact point back to the constellation Orion.
The other object you observed may have been the planet Mercury rising and setting along the horizon. This is my best guess because Mercury is appearing in the morning skies this October.
- Meteor Mark
on Oct 23rd, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Hey Mark!
How cool of you to offer some feedback to my post. I just wanted you to know that I really appreciate it and found the information very helpful.
Thanks,
Keepin’ My Eyes to the Stars – Supernova Sofi
on Oct 23rd, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I was watching meteors on the night of the 22nd to the morning of the 23rd from 2:30 am to 3:30 where i saw 8 Orionids that were bretty bright and green in color. The next period was later that morning at 4:20 am to 5:10 am which i saw 15 more meteors! At approximately 4:25, there were 6 Orionid meteors that came one after another that all looked alike but were in different parts of the area of view. These ones left breathtaking trails behind them and half were fireballs. Most beautiful shower i have observed yet!
on Oct 23rd, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Kevin,
Great viewing! It was cloudy here for me, so I didn’t have the same luxury. Thank you for sharing. Believe it or not the fireballs you saw may have only been the size of a golf ball when they entered the atmosphere. But imagine a golf ball traveling at 50,000 miles per hour!
See you next month and “Keep Your Head Up!”
Meteor Mark
on Oct 23rd, 2008 at 11:19 pm
I was on my way home from a friends on a bike on wednesday the 22. It was 10:45pm and I saw a fireball coming from orion. It was amazing, I had time to stop and look at it for about 8 seconds. Amazing how beautiful dust can be.
on Oct 23rd, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Thomas,
Awesome! What color and did it explode?
“Keep Your Head Up”
Meteor Mark
on Nov 8th, 2008 at 11:11 am
I was driving to Bagalkot (Karnataka, India) when i suddenly saw a quarter of the sky lit up. I slow down the car and instintively looked up at the sky for a clue. There was like a trail of an explosion near the oriion constellation. This must have lasted for about 5 – 10 secs. It was the best thing i’ve ever seen although i have seen many fireballs and meteorites before. Did anybody else see it. What was it??