When to Watch the Draconid and Orionids Meteor Showers This Month
There are a couple of interesting meteor showers in October to watch out for: first comes the humble Draconid, which will keep you warm in front of the more impressive Orionid at the end of the month. Here’s how to see both of them from the Northern Hemisphere.
How to watch the Draconid meteor shower
The Draconid meteor shower will peak between 8th and 9th October. It’s a comfortable meteor shower, especially for parents because it’s best to watch right after dark on Friday so you don’t have to drag your child out of the house. go to bed at four in the morning on a school night for the best views.
Since the moon is almost new, the sky should be quite dark, but even with a darker sky, the Draconids are usually not the most spectacular cosmic event. You can expect to see five to 10 meteors per hour. However, in some years, the Draconid puts on a show with hundreds of meteors per hour streaking across the sky. Will it happen this year? Probably not, but it is possible, and you won’t want to miss it if it does.
Find the Radiant Point of the Draconid Meteor Shower
While you should be able to catch shooting stars all over the night sky, the Draconids’ radiant stream is near the head of the Draconis constellation. To find it, first find the Big Dipper (look north, about a third of the way from the horizon to the top of the sky), and then trace the point of the Dipper to the North Star. Halfway between the edge of Dipper’s cup and Pole Star is the tip of Draco’s tail. Trace his body to his head, and there will be a shining point.
How to observe the Orionids meteor shower
The Orionids meteor shower is the most impressive space show in October, with up to 20 meteors visible per hour. The peak of observation will be from Wednesday, October 20 to Thursday, October 21. The best time to view is just before dawn, although the Orionids meteors (caused by Earth’s passage through the debris left behind by Comet Haley) will be visible throughout the month.
Unfortunately, the peak of the meteor sighting coincides with the illumination of the sky by the Hunter Moon, so fainter meteors will probably not be visible, but the shooting stars you see are likely to be impressive. About half of the Orionid meteors leave trails in the sky that last for a few seconds.
Find the point of emission of the Orionids meteor shower
While they will be visible across the sky, the Orionid meteors seem to come from the constellation Orion, an easy-to-find group of stars. Just look south (if you are in the Northern Hemisphere) and find the three stars that make up Orion’s Belt, trace them up to the bright reddish star Betelgeuse, and you get a rough look at the radiant point of Orionid meteors – but given the light of the moon, you are probably it will be better to find a dark area of the sky rather than a radiant point.