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In early Autumn, our planet enters the dust stream from Halley's Comet, giving rise to the Orionid meteor shower, so named because the meteor trails appear to track back from one of the most recognizable constellations, Orion. The dust from Halley's Comet hits our atmosphere at a blistering 148,000 mile per hour, so even tiny bits of dust light up pretty brightly.
In 2025, the Orionids peak is in the late afternoon of October 20. Go out after midnight on the morning of the 20th and/or the 21st, find a nice dark place, and look all around. This year, the moon will be nearly new, so the meteor trails won't have any competition!
To view a meteor shower, find yourself a dark location (away from lights) with a good view of the sky. Although the shower radiant is in the eastern sky, you will want to view as much of the entire sky as possible. The meteors don't usually appear in the radiant itself.
Don't try to use the binoculars or a 'scope to observe meteors -- they are too unpredictable, and move too fast.
You can find more details at earthsky.org .
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