Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Thursday, October 21st.  The sun will rise at 8:05.  It’ll be up for 10 hours and 42 minutes, setting at 6:48.   The moon, 1 day before full, will set at 7:47 tomorrow morning.

We are now at the best time to see the Orionid meteor shower, but unfortunately the moon is near full and out all night..  However the brightest of the meteors will be visible.  Like most meteor showers, this is best seen just before dawn.  As the name suggests the so-called shooting stars will seem to come from the constellation Orion the hunter.  Actually they will appear to come from above the rectangular torso of the giant.  These meteors actually have nothing to do with Orion, but they are the light flashes from bits of rock that were once part of Halley’s comet, as they burn up in the earth’s atmosphere.  In Halley’s many passes close to the sun, much of its solid material has been liberated by the evaporating gases, leaving a trail of litter in its orbit.