Orionid meteor shower october 2009

If you don’t mind staying up late, or getting up early, you could be treated a spectacular show from outer space.

The Orionid meteor shower is expected to peak between 1:00 a.m. and dawn on Wednesday.

The shower is made up of debris left by Halley’s comet. About 30 meteors an hour are expected, and you won’t even need a telescope to see them.

Orionids appear every year around this time when Earth orbits through an area of space littered with debris from the ancient comet. Normally, the shower produces 10 to 20 meteors per hour, a modest display. The past few years, however, have been much better than usual.

The Orionids are one of the most watched meteor showers of the year. They occur each year as the Earth passes through debris left behind by Halley’s Comet in 1986.

here is the photo
Halley’s Comet photo taken by W. Liller in Easter Island, March 6, 1986