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The Orionids Meteor Shower is caused by the dust particles of Halley’s Comet (IP/Halley). Halley’s Comet last visited us in 1986 and has a 75-76 year orbit. The trail of debris that follows this comet consistently produces the Orionids Meteor Shower each October. Halley’s Comet is also accountable for an additional meteor shower in May called the Eta Aquarids. The Orionids Meteor Shower started October 2 and will be active until November 7. Viewers can expect the strongest activity to take place in the morning of October 21. An interesting fact about the Orionids is that they have been known to exhibit what is called “submaxima” activity which means that strong outbursts may occur anytime between October 18-24. Meteors are the occurrence of light created from meteoroids entering the Earth’s atmosphere at 90,000+ mph. Orionids seem to originate from the constellation Orion near the red/orange star named Betelgeuse. Light pollution from the moon and man-made sources of light are always a factor for meteor shower viewing, however this year the Moon will be a waxing crescent with only 13% of the Moon’s visible disk illuminated which means good news for meteor enthusiasts.
Where to Look
To view this shower one must go to a safe dark place in the morning and look toward the constellation Orion. Orionids get their name from the meteor shower’s radiant which is located near Orion, the Hunter. Readers can view more meteor definitions and terms by visiting our meteor glossary located in the top right corner of this site. If you need help finding Orion, I suggest taking a look at some of the awesome products that can be found at the Starry Night Store – (ENTER HERE). Most of the cool stuff there will come in handy for viewing meteor showers later in the year.
I’m looking forward to this event because it marks the start of more major meteor activity in the last part of the year. The Orionids is considered a major meteor shower and could produce 25 to 35 visible meteors per hour. Please note that meteor showers are best seen in the morning before dawn so one should be observing Wednesday morning October 21 to have the best chance to see the most meteors not Wednesday Night.
Please join our mailing list, bookmark the site and keep your head up.
- Meteor Mark
on Oct 18th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Hello All Meteor Gazers,
There is no exact date for the peak of this meteor shower. Viewers can look for meteors in the morning hours of October 20, 21 & 22. In the above post I used October 21 because it fell in the middle. As stated in the above post, this meteor shower often displays periods of strong activity more than just a single day (it is called submaxima). Please understand that the peak of most meteor showers is not an exact science and still remains one of the hardest events for scientists to predict.
- Meteor Mark
on Oct 19th, 2009 at 12:39 am
Hi there live in northern France and last night saw some very strange activity. Two specks of light displaying massive tails moving slowly across the night sky. The larger of the two seemed to cause disturbance of the earths atmosphere as a massive halo could be seen around the source. If anybody knows about this please let me know. October 18th 2009
on Oct 19th, 2009 at 12:43 am
Mr. Smith,
This is a meteor site, if you suspect they were something else than that, you probably have commented on the wrong site.
Keep your head up.
- Meteor Mark
on Oct 19th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
I wonder if I’ll be able to see this on Oahu. Orion tends to be low in the sky here.
on Oct 19th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Steve,
You should be able to see this shower. I’ve never observed Orion from where you are, so if Orion is low in the sky you’re right to be concerned, it will reduce the amount of meteors one will see per hour. However, not all visible meteors will be right next to Orion. You will find that they can appear anywhere in the sky, but their backward path would seem to originate from somewhere near Orion. Check out the definition of radiant and zenith in our meteor glossary, the higher the zenith of a shower’s radiant the more meteors one should see.
Get out there and look and keep your head up!
- Meteor Mark
on Oct 19th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Thanks, Mark. Wife and kids and I will get up 3AM on 10/21 and head out to North Shore where there are no lights and lay out a blanket for a couple of hours before school starts. I’ll try and come back and report how it was. We went to see Persieds in August last year (this year was raining) and it was spectacular with 100+ meteors per hour.
on Oct 19th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Steve,
Aloha, I’m looking forward to your report. Yes, I think I’ve heard of the Perseids,
There are two showers coming up in the next few months that may be even better! Check with me at the beginning of each month. There is always a little something new happening.
- Meteor Mark
on Oct 20th, 2009 at 8:24 am
Glad to learn about what we have been seeing at the bus stop for the last two mornings. We are in FL and at the bus stop at 6:10 am. We have had really clear skies and the meteors have been beautiful. My child was thrilled. Can’t wait for tomorrow morning now to see the ‘peak’. Thanx Mark.
on Oct 20th, 2009 at 11:14 am
i live in arizona, south-west united states. will i be able to see the meteors?
on Oct 20th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Teresa,
Nice story!
It should be a good meteor shower, even for a person in Arizona
There are going to be some great ones coming in the next few months so bookmark the site. The cool thing is right around the time you’re at the bus stop at 4 to 6am is the best time to watch, especially if it is dark and clear.
Clear skies and keep your head up.
- Meteor Mark
on Oct 20th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Hello All Meteor Shower Gazers,
The Orionids Meteor Shower should be very active for the next 16 hours. The best time to view is in the morning wherever you are.
Keep your head up.
- Meteor Mark
8:11 PM Eastern Daylight Time (1:11 AM GMT October 21)
on Oct 20th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
Hey Mark,
OMGosh, it has been a year already since our first “family” Meteor Shower. I know it is hard to get the exact time. But, what time do you think it will be the busiest? How has the activity been so far? We are looking forward to the morning.
Thanks for all ur wonderful information.
Keeping our heads up!
on Oct 20th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Meteor Mom,
Amazing how time flies. I was out watching this morning at 6:15 AM and saw a nice red meteor streak down the “body” of Orion. So I think for the east coasters like us, try 4 to 6am. Yes Meteor Blog is celebrating a birthday! Tell the little ones Meteor Mark says, hi!
oh yeah how could I forget…
Keep our head up!
- Meteor Mark
on Oct 20th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Okie Dokie Pokie, I will report back in the a.m. if we see anything.
Thanks.
on Oct 21st, 2009 at 1:33 am
It’s 2:30 am and I’ve been looking and saw 3 out of the corner of my eye, but nothing exciting really. I’ll try later as well!
on Oct 21st, 2009 at 3:41 am
HEYY!! its 3:00 an here now imout here watching weve seen 2 yellows and 3 greens sense ive woke up.
CANT WAIT TILL DECEMBER AND NOV.
november shower is 13 days from my birthay!
on Oct 21st, 2009 at 7:36 am
We were out from 4 – 6.
We saw about 20 total.
Saw a few really good ones and 1 bright red one.
Totally worth it. Do you think there will much activity tomorrow morning?
thanks,
on Oct 21st, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Meteor Mom,
I saw 9 Orionids Meteors between 4:50 AM and 5:19 AM, the clouds rolled in and blocked our view. I’m going to observe again as I feel that submaxima activity is possible. I do think this shower will be active and but I think you may see half the meteors that you saw. I did notice that visible meteors appeared closer to the constellation Cetus “the Sea Monster” and Pisces from my perspective not Orion. So if you do look again I would look to the “right” of Orion’s shield and expect about 8 to 12 meteors in the same amount of time. There are a few minor Meteor Showers active right now, we saw 1 Draconid Meteor which was a special treat, a thick yellowy meteor that slowly appeared and left a persistent train (see the meteor glossary).
I always have mixed feeling about telling people not to look because I struggle with wanting people to observe and not wanting people to be bored or disappointed. Having said that, I think you should have a look, but expect roughly half the activity, you really never know what you’re going to see. (I have a funny feeling you will be looking)
You could always wait for the Leonids and the Geminids! Possibly 100 to 120 an hour or more and one of my favorites the Quadrantids that last year produced 1 to 3 a minute!
I always appreciate your comments and tell your children thank you too.
- Meteor Mark
on Oct 21st, 2009 at 6:16 pm
HI……hubby and I are going to get up at 5:30 tomorrow morning (Oct 22) we live on East coast of central FL. Do we look straight up, or to the south sky. I know I sound like an idiot with all these experienced people on here. Will the meteors look like white shooting stars? When people see green and red and yellow stars I’m assuming that is with a telescope?
thanks, Cindy & Mark
on Oct 21st, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Cindy,
Sadly the shower peaked October 21 in the morning so you may not see many meteors. I would bookmark the site or join the mailing list for the next more active shower. You can take a look, but expect 1 or 2 meteors every 10 or 15 minutes. Look near the constellation Orion, if you want to sit in a lounge chair or on a blanket on your back, just make sure Orion is somwhere in your view. Orion is best known for the the Red/Orange Star above the three stars in “his belt.” I’m assuming you know what Orion looks like in the sky. There is never a need for a telescope for meteor showers. You may want to use the search feature on this site and search for colors. There are some tips for viewing in the upper right hand corner on the page Meteor Shower Viewing.
There are no stupid questions except questions that aren’t asked. Thanks for your comment, have fun and keep your head up.
- Meteor Mark
on Oct 21st, 2009 at 10:04 pm
yea we saw about 30 meteors they were vary faint(dim) we saw bout 4-5 good ones that were gree and yellow.
what i thought was cool is that there was some that didnt hit but came close and u could see them moving acrost the sky!almost like a plane but i was useing a telescope to look.
I CANT WAIT TILL THE 17 OF NOV.
on Oct 22nd, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Last night my friend told me that there will be meteors will come out at midnight. He said I must focus on the Orion constellation in order to see the meteors. At first, I don’t believe in him because I thought he was just having fun or kidding at me. Since I am too curious that time, I really wait at midnight. I was looking for the Orion constellation but I never find it. So what I did was, I wait for midnight. At exactly 12, there was a bright star moving across the sky somewhat color light green with a yellow combination, but it disappeared for few seconds. It was the first meteor comes out that night. I don’t know what it was. The other remaining meteors I saw was not so clear (something colorless). I just saw 5 out of 20 meteors because I was already too sleepy that time and I need to go in my bed. It was so nice to look at! I love it!
I’m looking forward for another time it will come out!
on Oct 22nd, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Teddie,
Sounds like fun. If you saw 5 out of 20 meteors, how did you know there were 20? Anyway just kidding, have fun.
- Meteor Mark
on Oct 23rd, 2009 at 6:39 am
To someone who knows more than I do:
What was that bright “flash” we saw around 6:15 a.m.
(Eastern daylight savings) in Western NC? It was like
a flash bulb and it did not move live the other meteors.
Thanks
on Oct 23rd, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Bob,
I have not heard anything. My best guess is that it was a fireball or meteor. If you think it wasn’t that, then maybe it was ball lightning, and if you think it wasn’t ball lightning, then maybe it was, hmm I don’t know. Hopefully someone will see this comment who also saw it and respond. I would like to think it was a meteor, because this is meteorblog.com I don’t study
Keep your head up!
- Meteor Mark
on Oct 24th, 2009 at 2:24 am
Hey.. I ‘m from Chennai, India ( 13 N 80 E ). I was up on the morning of the 23rd and I saw about 8 orionids and 1 other metoer that seem to be from sirius or the gemini, I’m not sure.
. The meteors that I saw were very faint, nothing impressive. Anyway I wanna catch the Leonids for sure but I wanna go some place where the light pollution is a lot less. I wanna know how far away from the city you need to go before the sky is a lot darker?
Anyway I thought the light pollution at 3 in the morning would not be as bad as it is in the evenings but there was light all over my sky
on Oct 24th, 2009 at 2:27 am
Sriram,
I wish I could give you an answer, I’m not familiar with where you live, I would say 40 to 50 miles is my best guess.
- Meteor Mark
on Oct 24th, 2009 at 7:08 am
Im new to the astronomy world and have been taken in by what all a person may see with the naked eye which brings me to my ?. Im in Fort Worth Texas and recently learned of the Irionids shower and what am I supposed to be seeing? I know what a meteor looks like hitting the atmosphere but what Im seeing more of are what appear to be stars moving in every direction from Orion all the way to the horizon without tracers or flames behind them. Is this common? I first noticed them at 6:34 then again at 6:43 Am central time moving from south to north deep into the horizon without one single tracer. These are meteors correct? it seems there just not hitting the atmosphere.
on Oct 24th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Hi….I live in Pensacola FL. A friend called me within the past week, around midnight. She was ecstatic and told me about the meteor shower she was watching.
I went outdoors, eyes to the skies…..only two immoveable star dots….. I spent about 15 minutes, walking around eyes up….looking east, west, north and south. Nothing!
She lives about two miles west of my neighborhood……I saw no cloud cover. Why did I miss it?
Sandra
on Oct 24th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Sandra,
Meteor Showers are best seen before dawn, I don’t know what day you were watching. Some of the best meteor showers only produce 1 or 2 meteors a minute. The Orionids Meteor Shower was probably the meteor shower she was referring to and it produced around 2 or 3 meteors every 5 minutes, so there wasn’t major activity in the sky. You should have focused on one part of the sky and been watching in the morning on October 21, 2009. You can read more meteor shower viewing tips at the page Meteor Shower Viewing in the top right. You can also use the search feature to browse articles to expand your knowledge.
Bookmark the site and join the mailing list and I will tell you when the best time to look for the next meteor shower will be.
Keep your head up.
- Meteor Mark
on Oct 24th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Newby,
I’m unfamiliar with the term tracer when referring to meteors. I assume that you mean the “streak of light” or persistent train that is produced by a meteoroid hitting Earth. Please check the meteor glossary for a definition of meteor in the upper right hand corner, it may be different than you think and quite interesting to new meteor observers. Without being where you were at the time of your viewing, I can’t tell you specifically what the objects were. There are so many man made satellites that orbit Earth and they appear to look like “little dots” in the sky, they don’t twinkle like stars do and they visually move much slower across the sky than meteors do. By definition meteors must hit the Earth’s atmosphere, so I think they were satellites reflecting sunlight. That is my best guess.
Keep your head up.
- Meteor Mark
on Oct 24th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
hello peoples!Does anyone have any advice on what time i should look fo the LEONID metero shower comes through?i live in MS, so im in central time.
this time im getting up at 1:00am or should i get up later.
To bad i cant get away from the street lights.
well i gess i talk som udder time C U later!
on Oct 24th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Dave,
Please read the Meteor Shower Viewing page on this site and if you have any questions let me know. I will be making a whole bunch of posts well in advance for the next meteor shower so you will most likely have all the information you need in time for maximum viewing.
Keep your head up.
- Meteor Mark
on Oct 25th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Oh drat… I wanted to congratulate Mark and the blog on your anniversary. Wasn’t that October 21? CONGRATS anyway!!! I haven’t been looking up as much, cause we had some cloudy COLD nights — plus, I was writing. But, it’s clear tonight so I’ll get out there. Thanks so much for this wonderful place and for all the tweets, too!
on Oct 26th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Unfortunately, my friend told me that there will be 20 meteors (per hour) will come out at midnight. So, that is why I knew that there were 20 meteors…Hehehe…Indeed, I had read also about this…hehehe
When will be next meteors will come out?
What I mean is, the Leonids!
on Oct 28th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Teddy,
I promise you, I will be posting all the information needed about the next great meteor shower, the Leonids in November. By the way, you have a good sense of humor!
Keep your head up my friend.
- Meteor Mark