|
to Sunday. Fortunately, the waxing crescent moon will set way before the prime time hours for watching the Orionids. The chart at the top of this post shows the radiant point for the meteor shower, which is in the constellation Orion the Hunter.
• The radiant point for the Orionids is in the northern part of Orion. Many see the Hunter as a large rectangle. You'll surely notice its distinctive row of three medium-bright stars in the middle: those stars represent Orion's Belt. The brightest star in the sky, Sirius, is to the southwest of Orion on the sky's dome, and the Belt stars always point to Sirius. This constellation is well up in the southeast after midnight now, and it's high in the south before dawn. We will have much more to say about Orion in the months to come, because it's one of winter's most prominent constellations.
• Do you need to know Orion to see the meteors? Nah. The meteors will appear in all parts of the sky. But if you trace the paths of the meteors backwards, you'll see they all seem to come from single point within Orion. The radiant point for the Orionids is above and outside Orion's rectangle. But - again - you don't need to identify exactly where the radiant is to enjoy the meteors, or Orion! Just go to a dark sky and look up.
• When should you watch for Orionid meteors in 2012? The best time for viewing for these fast-streaking Orionid meteors will be between midnight (1 a.m. daylight time) and dawn on the mornings of October 20, 21 and 22, 2012. That time holds (Continued on page 16)
|
|
