Moon washes out 2008 Orionid meteors
A painting of an Orionid meteor in the sky over a group of golden aspens in the vicinity of Bishop, California. Credit: Duane Hilton
Monday, October 20, 2008.
The Orionid meteor shower is expected to rain down the most meteors tomorrow morning – Tuesday – in the wee hours before dawn.
In some years – with a dark, moonless sky – you can see 10 to 20 Orionid meteors every hour. But this year, the moon will wash out all but the brightest Orionids.
Meteors are fancifully called ‘shooting stars.’ They aren’t really stars, but space debris burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere. Every year in October, our planet Earth crosses the orbital path of Halley Comet. Particles shed by the comet slam into our upper atmosphere, where they vaporize at some 100 kilometers – 60 miles – above the Earth’s surface.
The Orionids are extremely fast meteors, plummeting into the Earth’s atmosphere at 66 kilometers – 41 miles – per second. Maybe half of the Orionid meteors leave persistent trains – ionized gas trails that last for a few seconds after the meteor itself has gone.
If you trace the paths of these Orionid meteors backward, they seem to stream from the constellation Orion the Hunter – hence the meteor shower’s name. Remember, the moon will interfere with tonight’s 2008 Orionid shower. A moonless sky will come next year, during the 2009 shower.
The point from where these meteors appear to radiate is called the meteor shower ‘radiant.’ You never need to know where a shower’s radiant is to watch the shower. But you do want a moonless sky, which we won’t have for the Orionids this year.
We were in the high desert of Southeastern Oregon Sept 12-15. Each night at 8:05pm just below Polaris we saw a bright object which appeared and then faded slowly, not to return until the next night. We did not see a tail. What is this?
Kathy,
I checked the brighter satellites for your area at the Heavens-above web site. I don’t think this object was a satellite, though. Was the light steady or blinking?
Bruce
Why is the article mentioning tomorrow morning, when it’s not even October 20th yet?
Kelly,
This is a preview of the radio program that’s to be aired on October 20.
Bruce
we just saw what, at first we thought was a jet flying across the sky, but now we think it was a meteor. it was flying south-west in the salt lake region. was it? it was around 3:30 pm on oct. 8
mychelle,
Meteors are not usually visible in the daytime. Is that when you saw it?
Bruce
how can i see the rain down the meteors? mmm like to see the show but i havent the date exactly!!!! may you helpme please??
me gustaria que me dijera si voy apoder ver la lluvia de meteoros a simple vista??? buenas nochess gracias..thanks
Last night, 10:30p, NW PA, I was checking out that beautiful, sparkly star low to the east, and gazing at the moon with my binocs. Suddenly, to my amazement, an dazzling shooting star streaked across the sky. I always have my eye to the sky, but this caught me completely by surprise. Wow!
Halo Rodrigo.
The Orionid shower will put out the greatest number of meteors before dawn on Tuesday, October 21.
Hausta luego!
Bruce
Claire,
Perhaps you saw an Orionid meteor, as the radiant would have been near the horizon at that time. The shower is active from about October 2 to November 7, though the rates are much lower than when the Orionids peak around Oct. 20-21. That shining, sparkly star was probably Capella.
Bruce
The “10/20/08” date above is rather confusing as the article that begins directly under the date refers to “tues. morning” and then “tonight.” The editors/creators of EarthSky, a “clear voice for science” could communicate more clearly. Perhaps the 10/14/08 full Hunter Moon is “washing out” the clarity and precision of the site’s online presentation more than obscuring meteor viewing!:) While taking an evening stroll at approx. 7:24 PM (PST), Oct. 14, 2008 in Palo Alto, CA, I witnessed a magnificent “meteor” while looking up at the full moon. I have never seen such a large “meteor” in my life. This seemingly low, close to earth “asteroid” of some sort moved across the sky south to north and appeared for about four seconds as I walked eastward. I distinguished a round yellow/orange “headlight” with a hollow or black center accompanied by a wide/thick streaming tail. This “stellar” sighting was very different from the small, high-in-the-sky flashing “shooting stars” I have previously seen. Do you think this was an Orionid meteor or something else? It certainly was spectacular. Thanks much for your insight.
Ooops: I meant (PDT) as we don’t set the clocks back until Nov. 2. The influence of the full moon must be washing over me!
Hi Crystal.
Sorry for any confusion! The radio show on the Orionid meteors will air on Monday, October 20. “Tonight” refers to the night of Oct. 20-21. The Orionids are expected to produce the highest meteor rates on Tuesday, October 21, in the wee hours before dawn. Unfortunately, moonlight will wash out most of this year’s Orionid meteor display.
It sounds like you might have seen a fireball – or an unusally brilliant meteor. But since you saw it so early in the evening, I doubt that it was an Orionid. The Orionids usually don’t start streaking the sky until fairly late at night – or when the constellation Orion climbs above the horizon.
Bruce
Will this shower be more evident in certain parts of the globe than others? I’m in Utah…
Jared,
The best viewing will likely be from about 4 to 6 in the morning, local daylight savings time. Be forewarned. The moon will wash out all but the brightest 2008 Orionid meteors, but meteor shower buffs may give it a go anyway.
Bruce
I actually saw a few bright streaks early evening Sunday near the zenith, so I encourage sky-watchers to give it a shot :)
Jorge,
Thanks for the tip. If it’s clear, I’ll be watching!
Bruce
Walking my dog as usual this morning approximately 5 a.m., was startled by a flash of really bright light in the center to northern sky and glanced up to see the trail the meteorite left. Have never witnessed a bright explosion of light like this before! Betty (in Virginia)
Betty,
Good to hear your report! In my neck of the woods, I had nothing but rain all night long – and it’s still raining. By the way, if a meteor survives its fiery plunge through the atmosphere and lands on earth, it’s called a meteorite. But if it burns up in the upper atmosphere, it’s a meteor.
Thanks for writing!
Bruce
My friends and I are planning to watch the shower tonight (tuesday night-wednesday morning) based on the earlier prediction of this shower peaking specifically on this night. Should we still try or does it not make any sense at this point? Thanks!
My Dad and a friend and I are going to watch the shower to night at around 10:00. Last saturday some friends and i were sitting outside when I saw a bright orange flash. Then a HUGE meteorite with a fiery red tail came down about 5 blocks away from us. Just as we were going to see if we could find it, a lady had it wrapped up in a sweater which she took with her into her car and drove away at a very high rate of speed. :) Also, as we were walking towards the landing spot, my friend saw another one about the same size but it looked to have landed in the next town. This was in Mayville, WI.
Crystal,
I saw the meteor around 7:30 pacific time with the full moon. The moon almost seemed to backlight the meteor making it even brighter. It seemed like a full 6 or 7 seconds to me and broke up on entering the earth’s atmosphere. 3 little chunks fell off and you could see earth’s gravity pull them straighter down. WOW! It was an incredible sight.
It’s nice to read that someome else saw the same meteor or fireball 10/14 PT that I did. Brian, may I ask from what city/state did you view the meteor? I’m very new to astronomy’s lexicon or terminology, but having studied film, I would indeed concur that the full moon served as an amazing source of natural backlight. The Hunter moon in and of itself was quite a sight, so seeing the meteor fly by underneath it was well, for lack of better vocabulary, simply out of this world!…. Bruce, I’m wondering if the meteor/fireball was perhaps produced from the Taurids (in actuality from the Aries constellation), stemming from the comet 2 P/Encke?
Crystal & Brian,
Yes, it seems possible that the fireball you saw could have been a Taurid. The Taurids are a long-lasting shower, active from about September 25 to November 25. But the rates are usually very low. Even when the Taurids peak in November, it’s usually about 10 meteors per hour. According to Guy Ottewell in his 2008 Astronomical Calendar, “Another Taurid “swarm” return is predicted for 2008, which could bring enhance activity, perhaps with more fireballs than normal, as it did in previous returns in 1995, 1998, and 2005.”
Even though the radiant of the Taurids will be in front of the constellation Taurus in November, the Taurid radiant – as you noted – was in front of the constellation Aries when you saw the fireball. Yes, the Taurid radiant was above the horizon at the time that you witnessed the fireball. Good detective work on your part!
It appears that you and Brian live in the same time zone. I include Wishing on a shooting star, this article exploring the distance two people can be apart and still see the same shooting star.
Bruce
i am just now getting to a computer. i was traveling to OKC on 20OCT08 from Elgin OK which is south of OKC. i was almost at Chickasha looking due North and saw what i guess was a fireball and a very bright one at that. only thing is it was below and/or in the clouds at the time, definitely on fire with a trail behind it and moving fast for a object at cloud level. i followed it with my eyes till it hit the horizon. it was traveling North/Northeast i guess. it glowed and made the clouds glow around it!. it looked like a rocket being fired from a Apache helicopter (i used to be in the ARMY) or a rocket from a multiple launch rocket system. since there was no attack report on the news i guessed this was a fireball. i just never heard or saw one ever, anywhere. from what i found this may have been an orionid? there was a report from coweka, ok. is this what i saw and if it is why was it in the clouds and not miles high? this was at around 547am CDT.
chris
Hi Bruce, I live in Anchorage, AK. We weren’t able to see the stars on 10/20 or 21 due to the clouds, however tonight is nice and clear (and 21 degrees!)and fortunately I was able to see one long (about 2 seconds), very bright meteor near Orion’s belt. It was so exciting! I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to see this phenomenon, and I look forward to next year’s brighter display sans moon. :)
Chris & Christina,
For a year that’s not suppose to be favorable for the Orionids, many exciting reports have come our way. Chris, I don’t know what to make of the fireball you saw, but it’s probably very difficult to gauge distance without a number of observations from different localities.
I totally missed out on the Orionid meteors this year because of rain and cloud cover. But it was clear this morning, so I got to see the planet Mercury and the star Arcturus. :)
Bruce
From Timmins, Ontario, Canada – thought I would share with you on October 17th, 2008 at approximately 7:20 pm. (EST), my two little boys and their friends were playing outside in our backyard when they started yelling for my husband, my husband then came yelling to me to go outside. In the clear night sky we saw what we describe as an orange and red fireball. We could see the flames and a small tail. At first we thought it was an airliner jet plane that blew up in the sky. It was traveling southeasterly, and as it travelled along in the sky it dimmed out, and got smaller. It seemed to descend quickly, and it was traveling at a speed that an airliner jet would travel as if you were watching it fly high in the sky!!! It was the wierdest thing we’ve ever seen!!!! but was very exciting to watch. My children and their friends thought it was the Omnitrix from their favourite cartoon TV show Ben-10 (ha ha)
Tammy – Timmins, Ontario Canada
Tammy,
Thank you for sharing your fireball adventure with the Earth & Sky audience. We’ve received a good number of fireball reports lately. These fireballs are often viewed in the early evening, before the constellation Orion even rises. For this reason, it’s not likely that these fireballs are Orionid meteors.
But as Crystal noted (comments #21, #10), the radiant for the Taurid shower is up at early evening, so perhaps these fireballs could be Taurids. I don’t know for sure if they’re Taurid meteors, but I find it interesting that Guy Ottewell in his Astronomical Calendar 2008 has predicted enhanced Taurid activity for 2008, with perhaps more fireballs than usual.
Bruce
Hi Bruce, Thought this 10/31 article re the Taurids might be of interest. Here is the Yahoo link:
news.yahoo.com/s/space/20081031/sc_space/meteorshowercouldspurbrightfireballs
This link re the Taurids might be of interest
http://www.space.com/spacewatch/081031-taurid-meteors.html
Crystal,
Yes, I read that write-up on Yahoo news a few days ago. Thanks for sending the Meteor Shower Could Spur Bright Fireballs article, as I’m sure it will be of interest to many Earth & Sky visitors.
Bruce