JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Look up tonight for the best view of meteors streaking through the sky. The Orionids peak this evening as the planet hurtles through the debris field of Comet Halley.
The comet is no where near Earth which last visited our skies in 1986. However every year the Earth passes through fragments left behind from the icy comet. Those meteoroids blasted away from the sun form a stream of small rocks encased in ice that collide with the Earth's atmosphere.
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The meteoroids spectacular streaking display happens each time a speck of dust enters the atmosphere which may be up to 20 per hour.
Tonight's near new moon and lack of clouds should help viewing by keeping skies dark. Light pollution from street lights, etc are the enemy of meteor viewing- try to get away from sources of light for optimal viewing.
The best viewing time for a meteor shower is generally just before dawn. Earth's rotation puts the radiant, or the point which they appear, at the highest position in the sky and just before the sunlight makes them harder to see.
The meteors will appear to originate from the Eastern Horizon and then cross the entire sky. Closer to 6:00a.m. you can look high in the Southern sky for the streaks of light.
The meteors come from the direction of the Orionid constellation, thus the name.