Meteors will dot the Austin sky early Wednesday morning at the peak of the annual Orionid meteor shower.
The meteors are the result of the Earth passing through the debris trail left behind by Halley’s Comet.
Joseph Wheelock, spokesman for UT’s McDonald Observatory, said that although the Orionid is not the biggest shower, it is one of the more intense ones.
“The best instrument you can use to watch this is your eyes,” he said.
Rebecca Johnson, editor of StarDate, the bimonthly astronomy magazine published by McDonald Observatory, said the Leonids meteor shower is the largest to appear during the year.
Johnson said the peak will occur a couple hours before dawn. She said to watch the skies around 4 a.m. Wednesday and be prepared to see up to 20 meteors an hour.
“You’d be better off if you are able to get away from city lights,” she said. “If you are in your own backyard, look at whichever direction the sky is darkest.“Meteors are named based on the constellation they seem to be coming from in the sky.
“If you trace the path of one of those meteors backward in the sky, it would appear to radiate from the constellation Orion the Hunter,” Wheelock said.
Johnson recommends laying on the ground or sitting in a lawn chair to get a complete view of the sky.
“Oftentimes with meteor showers, the moonlight will wash out and overpower the meteors,” she said.
Fortunately, this year, the moon will not be in the sky at peak time.
Be the first to comment on this article!