One Of The Year’s Best Meteor Showers Has Just Started

There is certainly no shortage of things to watch on a screen these days. Television, streaming services, social media, YouTube... there's always something demanding our attention.

But sometime this month, it might be worth walking away from all of it, stepping outside and looking up.

The Orionid meteor shower is now underway, and it's considered one of the better meteor showers of the year. The Orionids are created by tiny bits of debris left behind by Halley's Comet as it makes its way around the Sun. Every October, Earth passes through that debris field, and some of those particles burn up in our atmosphere as meteors.

Long exposure of bright meteor streaks across a dark starry night sky

Year After Year, The Orionids Are Something That Stargazers Look Forward To

The Orionids are known for being particularly fast, traveling roughly 41 miles per second with some leaving glowing trails behind them. Under ideal, dark-sky conditions, you could see 10 to 20 meteors an hour around the peak.

And that peak is coming up on the night of October 21st into the morning of October 22nd.

There's one catch this year: The Moon will be bright and will wash out some of the fainter meteors. But there's a pretty good workaround for those of us in Northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.

Meteor shower streaks across a starry night sky

Let's Talk About Viewing Times

The best time to watch will be in the hours before sunrise, particularly after the Moon sets.

Around Northern Illinois, the Moon sets at approximately 2:07am on October 21st and 3:14am on October 22nd. That leaves a nice stretch of darker sky before dawn, when the Orionid radiant is high in the sky.

You don't need a telescope, binoculars or any special equipment. In fact, you don't even need to stare directly at Orion. Find the darkest spot you can, get comfortable, give your eyes 20 or 30 minutes to adjust to the darkness, and look toward a wide-open section of sky.

And put the phone down. Seriously.

For once, the best show in town may be happening above the screen.