Before Ra begins his boat ride across the sky tomorrow morning.. (Page 1/1) maryjane OCT 20, 09:33 AM (Or Apollo starts driving his fiery chariot across the same sky) The Orionid meteor shower will peak. They are known for their bright short meteors and frequent fireballs. The Orionids have been building for a couple of weeks and I have looked this morning and saw a couple, short and bright. This is normal for Orionids. For those not familiar with the night sky, Orion (The Hunter) is probably the most recognizable and easiest to find constellation in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is from the area of Orion, that most of the meteors of this shower emanate, but not always all of them. Of course, the meteors aren't really coming from Orion..it's just a convenient place in the sky to see them, as they skim our atmosphere, with Orion a distant backdrop many light years behind where we see the meteors. Orion is instantly recognized because of the 3 bright stars perfectly aligned in a row. Orion's belt. Orion itself is a very large constellation that stretches across your full field of vision and is usually portrayed as a hunter with a bow in his left arm/hand or as a hunter with a club over his right shoulder and an animal (to be clubbed to death) at the end of his left arm. Walk outsideaftermidnight thru dawn Friday, turn & face south. Tilt your head back and Orion will be almost straight overhead, tho always a little to the southwest of directly overhead. Orion, is visible even in most towns and smaller cities. The moon will be in the opposite sky at 1/4 moon phase and shouldn't affect viewing the Orionids. Orion rises in the East/Southeast, and marches across the sky to the West/slightly northwest. The bright star Betelgeuse makes up the edge of his right shoulder. Most outdoorsmen learn early in life to know where the 7 sisters are (Pleiades) and know they 'point' East, and they will be to your right, and just to the West of Orion. Here is Orion depicted as a bow hunter. It is not to scale and this illustration is typical in that it omits other constellations that are in the same view. (Taurus (The Bull) is a constellation that lies between Orion and Pleiades) Orion and Pleiades will be somewhat farther apart than what this picture indicates. Betelgeuse is bright enough, that a few minutes ago, as the sun was already turning the Eastern horizon red, Betelgeuse was still visible overhead, and is usually one of the last stars visible before sunrise. This meteor shower peaks tonight (thursday night) into friday morning with the best viewing after midnight. Valkrie9 OCT 20, 01:14 PM Stellarium Web 3am from Austin, Texas. The last falling objects you may see tonight, if Putin launches hyper velocity nukes, concealed by meteorite showers, stealthy mirv icbms hiding among the interstellar pebbles, lighting up incandescent in the oxygen of the atmosphere. ' I too, also like to live dangerously. ' ~ Austin Powers