The Orionid Meteor Shower peaks each year on and around the 21st of October. It is caused by dust left over from Halley's comet falling into Earth's atmosphere. Some of these dust particles can be much larger than normal and cause an extremely bright fireball. Sometimes these fireballs survive the burn-up stage in the atmosphere and deposit fragments on the ground, known as meteorites.

Orionids appear to come from the constellation Orion, and the shower is expected to produce 10-15 meteors per hour. Orion is located in the East, and is above the horizon after mindight. The best time to watch for the Orionids is between midnight and dawn from 20th of October to 22nd of October.

If you are viewing with a group, make sure to see other celestial objects in the sky. Galilean Nights is taking place this week, highlighting Jupiter and the Moon in the night sky. Astronomy Ireland has produced a observing special pack that you can download and print to share with your friends. Download the pack HERE.

The Eastern sky after midnight

The image above shows how the Eastern sky will look after midnight during the duration of the meteor shower.

Don't forget to email your meteor observations and photographs to observe@astronomy.ie so they can be published in our magazine, Astronomy & Space.

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