Astronomers are expecting an impressive display in the skies early Saturday morning as the Earth passes through the trail of debris behind Halley's Comet -- an annual event that causes the Orionid meteor shower.
As many as 15 meteors per hour could be visible in tomorrow morning's eastern sky when the Orionid shower, which typically runs for several days, reaches its peak.
"Although this isn't the biggest meteor shower of the year, it's definitely worth waking up for," said Bill Cooke of the NASA Meteoroid Environment Office in a statement. "The setting is dynamite."
Skywatchers have had a disappointing year so far, after the summertime Perseid shower was washed out by the light of a full moon and the Draconid shower peaked during the daylight hours. Viewing conditions for Saturday morning look more favorable, provided viewers are away from the light pollution of large cities.
The shower of green and yellow streaks will be visible to the naked air in the eastern sky, and will appear to radiate from a point just off the right shoulder of the constellation Orion, for which the meteors are named. The shower will begin to peak around 3 a.m. Eastern time and continue until just before sunrise.
The meteors cut such a wide path through the sky there is a good chance that some could strike the moon, which has no protective atmosphere, causing flashes visible with a basic telescope.
"Some explode with energies exceeding hundreds of pounds of TNT," said Cooke.
