The nights of October 21 and October 22 will see many streaks of bright light across the sky. They are because of a celestial phenomenon called the meteor shower.
The upcoming meteor shower called the Orionid meteor shower can be observed from anywhere in the world. Just look up and find the constellation Orion and follow gaze at the sky in that direction.
The astronomical delight of a sight can even include about 20 to 30 visible meteors per hour. While the number of meteors will peak on October 21 and 22, the vent can be observed up till early November.
A meteor looks like a streak of light in the sky. And, a meteor shower is when many streaks of light can be seen across the sky.
But, what is a meteor, and why do meteor showers happen?
A meteor is a meteoroid that gets burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere, and thus appears like a streak of bright light. You might be wondering - what is a meteoroid though? Well, meteoroids are mostly rocks broken off or left behind by other bigger space objects like an asteroid or a comet. While orbiting the sun, when a comet gets closer, it sheds some dust and debris. This “comet debris” hangs around in its orbit. Now, the Earth is also orbiting the sun. So, every year, there comes a time when the orbit of the Earth and the comet meet. When Earth enters the comet’s orbit, it encounters the meteoroids left behind by the comet. These meteoroids enter the earth’s atmosphere at very high speeds. Due to friction with the air, they heat up, and this heat causes them to burn and glow.
In the amazing celestial event called the meteor shower, many meteors enter the Earth’s atmosphere while it is passing through the comet’s orbit. It happens with a starry background as the position of the constellations around the sun and the earth remains the same. This makes the meteor appear to come from a specific part of the sky.
The meteor shower that we are witnessing in October is called the Orionids meteor shower because it appears to come from the constellation Orion. It repeats every year as the Earth repeats its motion around the sun.
Interestingly, the meteoroids entering the earth’s atmosphere during the Orionid meteor shower are left behind by comet Halley.
Do you know of more meteor showers and the constellations they are named after? Comment below!
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