MOSCOW, Oct 22 The Orionid meteor shower will reach its peak on October 22, conditions for observation in this favorable year, 15 meteors per hour are expected, the Moscow Planetarium reported.
«The twenty-first — twenty-second of October will be the maximum activity of the Orionid meteor shower. The shower will reach its peak activity at approximately 03.00 Moscow time on October 22, 2023. 15 meteors per hour at the zenith are expected,» says a message on the planetarium website.
It is noted that conditions for observing the meteor shower this year are favorable. The moon on the night of the Orionid maximum is in the first quarter phase, it will go below the horizon after 21:00 Moscow time, its light will not interfere with observations of meteors. The meteor shower will be clearly visible in both hemispheres.
The Orionids are active annually from October 2 to November 7. The stream received its name from the constellation Orion, in which the radiant of the stream is located, that is, the point from which, as it seems to an earthly observer, meteors fly out.
The Orionid «shooting stars» are quite fast. They fly into the earth's atmosphere at a speed of about 66 kilometers per second. At the same time, they burn and leave a luminous trace (usually white). However, among the Orionids there are red, blue-green, yellow, and orange meteors with a brightness of about plus 2.5m magnitude.