Three Wise Men

Orionids 2009

Looking up the sky – a week ago my wife announced that she saw a meteor. Since we were both semi-awake at the time and I must say that probably I glimpsed at it with the corner of my eye, nodded and went to sleep. Not much to do about it … or so I thought.

As it happens we saw one of the Orionids. This is another annual meteor shower, similar to Perseids which were described in this article. As other meteor showers they are named after their radiant, which is located near constellation Orion. Usually they last from 15-29 of October with the maximum between 20-22 of October and this year the peak will be seen on the 21 of October. On average the produce from 20-25 meteors per hour. But reports are claiming that this years activity could be similar to last years, which was around 60 meteors per hour. If you were to be looking for it the radiant is about 10 degrees north of Betelgeuse in the southeastern sky.

First observations of the Orionids were made by E.C. Herrick in the 1839-1840. First documented record was which produced accurate forecasts for the next year were made by the A.S. Herschel. It is now known that the Orionids are a by product of the well-known Halley’s Comet.

Happy hunting.

Related posts:

1. Perseids 2009
2. StarCraft 2, keeping our fingers crossed for 2009