Rapid meteor shower peaks this week, with 2 comets in the night sky

The fastest meteor shower of the fall, the Orionids, is expected to peak this week. And they put on their biggest show as two comets appear in the night sky.

The bonus for this week’s peak? We are in a “new moon” phase, which basically means the moon will be invisible, leaving us with very dark skies. Now let’s keep our fingers crossed that there are no clouds.

The Orionids will reach their peak early in the morning of Tuesday, October 21. So you can search for them this evening and Tuesday morning. The meteor shower itself will continue until November 22, but the number of meteors will decrease as we move forward into the next month.

During this peak week, you could see up to 20 meteors per hour streaking across the sky. The best window is approximately between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m.

The Orionids are fast. They may look like flashes of bright white light. Some leave “trails” of gas that remain visible after their departure. While there may be some glowing fireballs, this shower isn’t known for spewing many of them.

You can see them anywhere in the sky, but most seem to radiate from the constellation known as Orion the Hunter.

“This meteor shower occurs as Earth passes through the debris trailing behind Halley’s Comet and burns up in our atmosphere,” NASA staff said in this month’s skywatching blog.

“With a moonless sky, you’re much more likely to catch a fireball streaking through the night. So find a dark spot after sunset, look toward the southeast sky (if you’re in the northern hemisphere), and enjoy!”

A double comet take

As for comets, they can be best observed about 90 minutes after sunset Monday evening, according to information from LiveScience.

If you are in a dark area, you can try searching for them with your eyes alone. But you’ll probably need a pair of binoculars.

“Comet Lemmon, which was discovered in January by the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter Observatory in Arizona’s Santa Catalina Mountains, will be low in the northwest between the tip of the Big Dipper handle and the bright star Arcturus. Comet SWAN, which was first spotted in September by NASA’s orbiting Solar Dynamics Observatory, will be low in the south, just below the bright star Altai,” LiveScience said.

You can learn more about Comet SWAN here.