The Orionids meteor shower peaks during mid-October each year.
NASA said it is considered to be one of the most beautiful meteor showers of the year. The meteors are known for their brightness and their speed.
Whether or not you’ll be able to see them will depend on clear evening skies. The bright waning gibbous moon won’t help either -- it will outshine fainter meteors and reduce the number you’ll be able to see in the sky.
The best time to look for these meteors is after midnight until dawn on the mornings of Sunday, Oct. 20, and Monday, Oct. 21.
“Find an area well away from the city or street lights,” said Bill Cooke, who leads NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “Come prepared with a blanket. Lie flat on your back and look up, taking in as much of the sky as possible. In less than 30 minutes in the dark, your eyes will adapt and you will begin to see meteors.”
Some of these meteors could produce spectacular fireballs. Their parent comet is Halley’s Comet.
Comet Halley takes about 76 years to orbit the sun once. The last time it was able to be seen by casual observers was in 1986. It will not enter the inner solar system again until 2061.
---> Moonlight may hamper views of the Orionid meteor shower, debris of Halley’s comet