How to Catch a Glimpse of the Dazzling Orionid Meteor Shower
Moonlight may cut visibility by half, but the shower could still produce up to 20 meteors per hour in ideal conditions, astronomers said.
- The Orionid meteor shower reaches its peak on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, with observers expected to see up to 20 meteors per hour under ideal dark-sky conditions.
- Earth passes through debris left by Halley's Comet each October, with particles incinerating in the atmosphere at about 66 kilometers per second as they collide with air molecules.
- A 71%-illuminated waxing gibbous moon will wash out fainter meteors for much of the night, limiting optimal viewing to the dark hours after moonset before dawn.
- Astronomy experts recommend finding a dark location away from city lights, allowing 20 to 30 minutes for eyes to adjust to darkness, and avoiding telescopes to maximize sky visibility.
- While Halley's Comet remains beyond the orbit of Neptune, it will not return to the inner solar system until 2061, yet the Orionids persist as a reliable annual event.
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Star Spectacular about NRW: The peak of the Orionids already took place on the night of 22 October - but this is not the only chance.
Orionids over Lower Saxony and the Harz! When the meteor stream is best seen and which places are worth it.
On Thursday, 22 October, Nelly Lesage, editor-in-chief of Numerama, devotes his science chronicle to shooting stars and more particularly to the Orionides' peak of activity, which takes place on the night of 21-22 October. A sequence to be found in the show "To follow with Loïc de la Mornais", broadcast between 8:30 pm and 11 pm on the news channel, channel 16.
How to View the Orionid Meteors
The Orionids—one of two major weather showers caused by memories from Halley's Comet—will peak this week, though a large moon will dim visibility until after it sets late at night. During the peak Wednesday night into Thursday morning, it will be possible to see up to 20 meters...
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