The maximum activity of the Orionids, a shower of shooting stars, is expected on the night of October 21 to 22, 2022. Here is how to attempt their observation.
A new swarm of shooting stars returns in October 2022. The peak of activity of the Orionids shower is expected on the night of Thursday October 21 to Friday October 22. This is usually a nice meteor shower to admire. ” A few days before and after this date, look at the sky, you should see some nice light trails that seem to come from the head of Orion », has indicated the scientific mediator Pierre Henriquet.
Where do these light trails come from? How can we hope to distinguish them in the sky? Here’s what you need to know to enjoy the Orionids show.
How to observe the Orionids?
The peak of Orionid activity is expected on the night of October 21-22. The swarm is usually active between September 26 and November 22, according to NASA.
On Friday the 21st, the Sun sets at 6:48 p.m., but if you want to try observing the swarm, you can do it well after. ” They can be observed rather in the second part of the night, and the greatest number is observed when the constellation of Orion passes to the zenith around 4:30 am “, explains to Numerama Johan Richard, astronomer at the Observatory of Lyon. The constellation of Orion, towards which one must look to find the Orionids, begins to be visible after midnight in an easterly direction. At the end of the night, you have to look south.
Once it is up, spotting the constellation Orion is easy if the sky is clear. ” Orion is a basic constellation of the winter sky, with its characteristic 5 starstells us Florent Deleflie, astronomer at the Paris Observatory. The radiant of the Orionids [ndlr : l’endroit du ciel d’où l’essaim semble émerger] sits above Betelgeuse, a red star towards the top of the diamond. »
The radiant serves as a reference point, but shooting stars can normally be observed throughout the sky. To maximize your chances of seeing them, it is better to opt for a place of observation far from light pollution (far from cities).
Where do these shooting stars come from?
” Shooting stars are dust left by the passage of comets, which the Earth crosses at a certain time of the year. These dusts light up as they fall and burn in the atmosphere, leaving behind that characteristic glowing trail “, explains Johan Richard.
The parent body of the Orionids is Halley’s Comet, or 1P/Halley (just like the Eta Aquarids swarm observable in May). This comet is well known to astronomers, as its identification helped to understand that comets could return several times to the Earth’s vicinity. The last time Halley’s Comet was visible in the sky was in 1986. It will return in 2061, as it takes about 76 years to complete its journey around the Sun.
Halley’s Comet is 15 kilometers long and 8 kilometers wide. It is a very dark object. Its movement around the Sun is retrograde (in the opposite direction to that of the Earth).
As NASA explains, the Orionids are renowned for their brilliance and speed. Meteors move at a speed of about 66 kilometers per second through the Earth’s atmosphere. The debris of the comet can even draw luminous streaks which last a few seconds in the sky.