Astro-Porn of the Day: Orionid Meteor Shower

[mckitterick]

On Wednesday morning (late Tuesday night), be sure to watch for the Orionid meteor shower. I love this photo of an Orionid meteor because you can also see the Orion Nebula and associated stellar cool-ness to the lower left:


Click the image to see the story. Photo by Rich Swanson. Guided shot with Canon 20dh, 400 ASA, 2-minute exposure.

The Orionids flash across the sky near the constellation Orion this time each year when the Earth passes through an area of space littered with debris from Halley's comet. The shower usually produces 10-20 meteors per hour, but it's been giving us as many as 60 per hour over the past few years. Here's where to look in the sky:

Click the image to see the story.

Best,
Chris

Comments

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

In the photo, the meteor is sorta shooting out of Orion's bow. The two long, red streaks in the drawing mark the left edge of the photo. I hope that helps!

[siro-gravity.livejournal.com]

k, i'm positive i got the bow. did i circle the other stars right? my circles don't match the proportions on the drawing, but i don't see what else it could be. i also wondered if that super shiny cluster was the belt, but i don't think so. i never saw these things in the sky very well.

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

That's awesome! Also, below the belt is the sword, and in the middle of it is a glow-ey spot that, when magnified, looks like this:


Click the image to see the wiki article.

[siro-gravity.livejournal.com]

:O
omg, that thing is total eye candy!!! thank you for showing me!

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

It's probably my favorite deep-sky object. I mean, geez, what's not to love!