October is busy astronomical events to enjoy the sky. As if three green kites flying across the sky weren’t enough, we can also enjoy two beautiful star shower: draconids and orionids.
If this intro sounds appealing to you, you should get to work as the Dragonborn Peak takes place tonight. We’ll see the Orionids later this month, when the skies will be much more favorable for viewing.
Be that as it may, two meteor showers are a very pleasant sight. Unfortunately, the Draconids cannot be seen well in the southern hemisphere, but the Orionids, If weather and light pollution permit, Yes, they can be seen from anywhere on the planet.
From Draconids to Orionids
The Draconids are short-lived meteor showers. We were able to start seeing them on October 6th and they will continue to fly through the skies until October 10th, although their peak is today, October 8th. As the name suggests, its radiant is Dragon constellation. This means that it is a point in the sky from which It’s like they are being born. Ideally, look up there and watch for them, although in reality they can appear anywhere in the sky.
The bad thing is that, as we expected, they will only be clearly visible in the northern hemisphere, where the dragon constellation is more noticeable. And, well, the second negative point is that currently the Moon is practically completely filledtherefore, this will make observation significantly more difficult.
As for the Orionids, this is one of the most interesting meteor showers of the entire year. This is primarily due to its duration. They started seeing each other in the sky September 26 and they will continue to appear until November 22. Of course, although there are many opportunities to see them, the peak will be on October 21st. And we are lucky, because then the Moon will be in a new phase. That is, it will not be visible. The sky will become completely dark and we will be able to see up to 20 meteors per hour without any natural light getting in the way.
How can we see these meteor showers?
The Drakonids will peak at 19:00 UTC (21:00 Spanish Peninsula time) and Orionid in 00:00 UTC (02:00 Spanish Peninsula time). Therefore, we will be able to see the first ones earlier, but for the second ones we will have to stay a little late.
Of course, these hours refer to its maximum point, but in the coming hours you can see the stars. The main thing is to look location away from light pollution and look towards the constellation Draco or Orion, depending on which of the two meteor showers we are looking for. The first will only be clearly visible in the northern hemisphere, but the second can be observed from both hemispheres, always keeping one very important thing in mind: if you are in the south, look to the side northeast and, if you are in the north, towards east-southeast.
However, all that remains is to enjoy the two meteor showers and the rest of the magnificent astronomical events that October brings us.
Source: Hiper Textual
