Community Corner

Make a Wish: Orionids Meteor Shower Peaks this Weekend

Shooting stars will be flying early Sunday morning, but it promises to be a show worth watching.

For anyone who has ever wanted to wish upon a shooting star, this weekend is your chance. The offspring of Halley's comet are about to put on quite a show over the skies of the North Hills.

Earth began passing through a stream of debris from Halley's on Oct. 15, which gives us the benefit of the annual Orionids meteor shower.

The shower should be at its peak Saturday night, Oct. 20, until just before dawn on Oct. 21. This year, the moon will be setting at about midnight, which will keep the sky darkened enough that -- barring cloud cover -- you should be able to see up to 15 meteors per hour.

Right now, the National Weather Service is predicting mostly cloudy skies on Saturday night, with a 20% chance of rain. :(

Find out what's happening in North Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Hopefully, forecasters are wrong!

What makes this shower so cool? First, c'mon -- it's a show of shooting stars.

Also, though, there's no question about where to look for this one. Meteor showers get their names from the constellations in the sky where they can be spotted. And what's easier to spot than Orion the Hunter?

The stars tend to shoot from Orion's club, pierce Taurus the Bull, the Gemini twins, Leo the Lion and then, Canis Major, home of Sirius, the brightest star we can see -- well, aside from the sun.

Something else special about this show: With the second-fastest entry velocity of all the annual meteor showers, meteors from the Orionids produce yellow and green colors and occasionally produce an odd fireball.

Obviously, you'll have more luck catching the shooting stars if you're in a place not polluted by light.

Find out what's happening in North Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The closest good viewing area with the least amount of excess light in the North Hills area is North Park. You might want to try the parking lots at the top of the hill, just outside the Golf course club house.


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