NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Janet Anderson
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Ala.
256-544-6162
Janet.L.Anderson@nasa.gov

Multimedia release: 09-085


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The false-color images above are composite images from 2009 Orionids meteor shower observations, as seen in the skies over Huntsville, Ala.

"Earth is passing through a stream of debris from Halley's Comet, the source of the Orionids," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "Flakes of comet dust hitting the atmosphere should give us dozens of meteors per hour."

> Watch the Orionids meteor shower (QuickTime, 7 MB)

The best time to look is before sunrise on Wednesday, Oct. 21st. That's when Earth encounters the densest part of Halley's debris stream. Observing is easy: Wake up a few hours before dawn, brew some hot chocolate, go outside and look up. No telescope is required to see Orionids shooting across the sky.

Orionids appear every year around this time when Earth orbits through an area of space littered with debris from the ancient comet. Normally, the shower produces 10 to 20 meteors per hour, a modest display. The past few years, however, have been much better than usual. "Since 2006, the Orionids have been one of the best showers of the year, with counts of 60 or more meteors per hour," says Cooke.