The Orionid Meteor Shower takes place on the morning of October 21st 2009. People might see 20 meteors per hour if skies are clear and the location is dark enough.
Don’t forget to spot the bright red star Betelgeuse, as that is about the location of the “radiant”, or where the meteors appear to start off.
According to astronomer Mark Hammergren (Nat Geographic News), “ The Orionids are so named because the meteors appear to radiate from near the constellation Orion, aka the Hunter. This easily spotted constellation “kind of looks like an hourglass with a very recognizable belt of stars”.
So what exactly is a Meteor Shower?
According to Wikipedia, “A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth’s atmosphere at extremely high speed on parallel trajectories”
Check out a Meteor Shower that took place last year:
Here are some Meteor Shower Pics:
