A gorgeous meteor shower is coming on Thursday, October 21!
The Orionid meteor shower is at its peak season every year from October to early November, and it will be at its peak on October 21, 2021, when about 20 meteors per hour can be seen crossing the night sky.
But it is rather unfortunate that October 21 coincides with the 16th day of the September of the lunar calendar, and the big moon will adversely affect the observation of the meteor shower. Although the peak of the Orionid meteor shower this year will catch up with the big moon, the Orionid meteor shower has a long active period from October 2 to November 7. You can keep an eye on the night sky during this period.
One of the characteristics of the Orionid meteor shower is that it is very fast and has a long trajectory. If you see such a meteor and its trajectory points in the opposite direction to Orion, you can conclude that it belongs to the Orionid meteor shower.
The Orionid meteor shower is a small to the medium-sized meteor shower that occurs regularly every year, and its parent star is Halley’s comet, which is the first periodic comet recorded by humans, circling the Sun every 76 years or so. Halley’s comet last returned in 1986, and its next return will not be until 2061. This famous comet “nurtures” the Eta meteor shower in Aquarius in the first half of the year and the Orionid meteor shower in the second half of the year.
