A predawn opening could help skywatchers catch October’s Orionids
· BehindLines newsroom
The next opportunity to watch the Orionid meteors is approaching on the night of 21–22 October 2026. NASA and the American Meteor Society identify that night as the shower’s maximum. Moonlight will complicate viewing this year: NASA’s monthly guide points to the hours before dawn, once the Moon has gone below the horizon, as the most promising window.
The maximum is only one part of a longer event. Both organisations list an activity period running from 2 October to 7 November. For anyone heading outside on the evening of 21 October, the later part of the night leading into the morning of the 22nd deserves particular attention.
Treat the hourly figure as a guide
NASA’s reference page lists roughly ten to twenty meteors an hour under dark skies. That figure should not be read as a guaranteed number for every observer. A bright waxing gibbous Moon will conceal some of the dimmer streaks. Artificial lighting and the condition of the sky will also affect what can be seen.
Choosing a place and time is therefore more useful than relying on a single headline rate. Check the local times of moonset and dawn instead of borrowing a clock time from another city. NASA’s practical advice is to find darkness and allow the eyes time to become accustomed to it.
Halley’s debris, rather than the comet itself
The shower comes from material shed by Halley’s Comet that Earth encounters along its orbit. The particles make luminous trails when they enter the atmosphere. The name refers to their apparent direction near Orion; it does not mean the particles originate in that constellation’s stars.
There is consequently no need to keep staring only at Orion: meteors can cross different parts of the sky. Watching this shower also does not amount to seeing Halley itself. NASA places the comet’s next visit to the inner Solar System in 2061.