AFTER midnight on Thursday, October 22, the annual Orionid meteor shower reaches its peak. If you can stay out for a couple of hours after midnight, looking east, you have a good chance of seeing some very bright and colourful shooting stars streaking away from the constellation of Orion. The best views will be from dark places, away from lights, with a clear view to the east.

Because meteors are so fast moving a telescope is no use for watching them; a meteor shower is best viewed with just the naked eye. But if you have binoculars take them with you, as they will be useful to let you see the ghostly smoke trails the very brightest shooting stars sometimes leave behind.

Stuart Atkinson

Eddington Astronomical Society of Kendal