Orionid meteor shower 2022: How to see dust from Halley’s comet
The Orionid meteor shower has been building steadily throughout the month and could offer stargazers an early winter treat. It is one of two meteor showers associated with Comet Halley: the other is the Eta Aquariids in May. Easily recognized by their high speed, the Orionids are often considered one of the most beautiful. They are by far the best showers since August’s Perseid meteor shower, especially as this year a full moon impacted visibility somewhat.
So what’s the best way to maximize your chances of spotting an Orionid? What Causes the Orionid Meteor Shower? And when exactly should you look up to see it?
If you want to make the most of the longer evenings, be sure to check out our beginner’s guide to astronomy and our full moon calendar. For a full recap of this year’s meteor showers, we’ve listed all the essentials in our meteor shower calendar.
When can you see the 2022 Orionids meteor shower in the UK?
The Orionid meteor shower began in late September and will be visible until around November 7, 2022. The number of meteors will start to increase sharply as we peak on October 21st and 22nd and we should be presented with relatively decent viewing conditions thanks to a waning (shrinking) crescent moon. The moon itself will rise at 2:21 a.m. on October 21 and at 3:36 a.m. on October 22.
The best time to see the Orionids in 2022 is between midnight and sunrise (which occurs at approximately 7:34 am) on the morning of Friday October 21st and at the same time on October 22nd.
However, if you miss the Orionids at their peak, all is not lost. This meteor shower has a more sustained maximum than other showers, lasting about a week centered on the peak before tapering off towards November.
Where to look
The Orionids are visible from both the northern and southern hemispheres. The radiant – the point in the sky from which the meteors appear to originate – is, as the name suggests, located in the winter constellation of Orion.
You don’t have to limit your view to Orion, however; The meteors will be visible in the night sky. Looking away from the radiant also gives you the added benefit of potentially seeing “longer” meteors, as opposed to the shorter meteors you might see closer to the radiant.
More like that
This is due to something called “foreshortening” — an optical illusion that causes a meteor’s train to look shorter because it’s aimed at us.
The radiant is easy to find, look to the eastern horizon after midnight and locate the three prominent stars that make up Orion’s belt: Alnilam, Mintaka, and Alnitak. If you look a little below Orion’s belt, keen eyes may even be able to spot a blur; the Orion Nebula. The radiant itself is at a point on the northwest corner of the constellation.
How many meteors will you be able to see?
The Orionids are known for their brightness and speed; These meteors are fast, which gives us certain advantages when viewing them. Traveling at speeds of up to 66 km/s (that’s 148,000 mph!) means that – weather permitting – we’re treated to glowing trails that last longer. Fast meteors also mean a slightly higher chance of seeing a fireball (an exceptionally bright meteor), although this is still rare.
At its peak on October 21-22, 2022, the Orionid meteor shower has a maximum zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) of about 20 to 25 meteors per hour. However, this number assumes perfect (or near-perfect) conditions: clear skies and no light pollution, and a spotlight directly overhead. In 2007, a whopping 80 meteors were reported every hour.
Given that the Orionids have one radiant at a relatively low altitude (i.e. the constellation Orion is still fairly low in the sky), it’s unlikely we’ll see that many. In reality, we can expect to see about 10-15 meteors per hour.
Where are the Orionids from?
Like the Eta Aquariids in May, the Orionids are the result of debris from 1P/Halley, better known as the famous Halley’s Comet.
Halley’s Comet itself is a brittle, “dirty snowball” comet composed of a mixture of volatile ice and dust. It has been traveling around the sun for at least 16,000 years, leaving a trail of debris in its wake. It has a highly elliptical orbit, stretching out like an elongated oval around the Sun and exceeding Neptune’s orbit at its extreme point.
Every time Earth enters this dust stream from Halley’s Comet, which it does twice a year, particles enter our atmosphere and break up, leaving bright streaks in the sky that we see as meteor showers.
show tips
If possible, find an area away from light pollution. Nighttime temperatures on 21st and 22nd October are expected to be fairly mild, around 9-11°C with a bit of cloud cover and little chance of rain in London – but remember to check your local weather forecast. Dress warmly anyway, as you probably won’t be moving much.
Lie back in a lounge chair, hammock, or blanket and allow your eyes to adjust to the darkness for about 10 to 20 minutes.
After a while, and with a little patience, you’ll find that your eyes get more used to seeing the meteor trails as they streak across the sky. Try not to look at other bright light sources (e.g. your phone) during this time. In this case, use a red filter. This is because the rod cells in our eyes are not sensitive to red light and therefore do not disrupt accumulated night vision. Many astronomers use red light lamps and filters for this reason.
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