Orionid meteor shower 2018

Orionid meteor shower 2018 will be visible from October 2 to November 7 but the shower is expected to peak on the night of  October 20 into the early morning of October 21. The Orionids are caused by the dust and debris of Halley’s Comet. Halley takes around 76 years to make a complete revolution around the Sun. It will next be visible from Earth in 2061. The Orionids are active every annually in the month of October, and at its peak, should produce up to 20 meteors every hour. The best time to view the Orionids is just after midnight and right before dawn. Due to a Waxing Gibbous Moon, this meteor shower will be difficult to see in both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere.

The table below shows the exact direction of the Orionids from Orange County Ca.

Orionids meteor shower for Orange County Ca. (Night between October 21 and October 22)
Time	Azimuth/Direction	Altitude
Sun 11:00 pm	75°	6.3°
Mon 12:00 midnight	83°	18.5°
Mon 1:00 am	91°	30.9°
Mon 2:00 am	100°	43.3°
Mon 3:00 am	113°	55.3°
Mon 4:00 am	133°	65.8°
Mon 5:00 am	171°	71.9°
Mon 6:00 am	214°	69.1°
Mon 7:00 am	240°	59.8°

Direction to see the Orionids in the sky will change a few degrees over the course of the month depending on where you are in North America:

• Azimuth is the direction, based on true north; a compass might show a slightly different value.
• Altitude is height in degrees over the horizon.

For a local area to view celestial events, be sure to view our OC Star Spots