October Meteor Showers

Once again most of us southern New Englanders were clouded out for the Perseid meteor shower back in August. Scattered clouds blocked more than three-quarters of the sky when I started my observing run around 11:45 pm on the 12th. Though I did observe a couple of Perseid meteors through small fortuitous breaks in the cloud cover, those windows to the heavens finally succumbed to a much more opaque overcast. Observers further to the east, perhaps out on the Cape, were able to squeeze out a few more hours for their observations. Sadly for us, reports from clear sky locations revealed the Perseids performed well during the shower’s peak activity.

Mother Nature has been unkind to us during many astronomical events over the years. But fortunately meteor showers are common enough that we get many opportunities to view them. And one of those better opportunities is scheduled to occur during mid-October.

But before we jump ahead, a minor meteor shower called the Draconids will peak some time between October 8 and 9. Unfortunately a waning gibbous Moon will rise early in the evening and will overshadow all but the brightest meteors of this display of shooting stars.

Concentrate your gaze towards the northern sky, and you’ll notice that the meteors will appear to radiate from the constellation Draco. Locate the Big Dipper (Ursa Major), and you’ll be looking in the right direction. And by all means, attempt to block the light of the Moon from your field of view. This action will allow you to see more of the fainter members of this shower. As it is, the Draconids are expected to produce no more that ten slow moving (12.5 miles per second) shooting stars per hour.

The more reliable and productive meteor shower of October is the Orionids. These remnants of Halley’s Comet intercept the Earth’s orbit nearly head-on at 41.6 miles per second, so they are very fast as they blaze across the sky. These meteors appear to radiate from a point in the sky beneath the feet of Gemini (the Twins) and above the head of Orion the mighty Hunter (Not far from the red super giant star Betelgeuse which marks Orion’s right shoulder – remember, Orion is facing you!)

The Orionids are best observed between midnight and dawn on the 21st when Orion will be at his highest point in the sky. (For reference, at approximately 3:30 am Orion will be due south of your location and about halfway up off the southern horizon.) And this year the Moon will not pose any problems, since it sets early in the evening on the 20th. All you have to do is get comfortable at an observing site well away from any light pollution source that would reduce your meteor count.

Since the Moon is not a limiting factor this year, an observer in a dark sky can expect about 30 yellow and green meteors per hour during peak. The Orionids are also noted for producing fireballs that create persistent dust trains high in the atmosphere.

Let’s hope the weather cooperates for the Orionids. If it doesn’t, observing prospects are still favorable for the last two major meteor showers of the year, the Leonids of November and the Geminids of December. While telescopes are not used for meteor observing, they do provide some wonderful views of the heavens. Seagrave Memorial Observatory (http:/www.theskyscrapers.org) on Peeptoad Road in North Scituate is open every clear Saturday night for public observing. Ladd Observatory (http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Physics/Ladd/) on the corner of Hope Street and Doyle Avenue in Providence is open for public viewing every clear Tuesday night. Check out their websites for the open night schedules. There is no admission fee to these facilities on those evenings. Staff and volunteers will be happy to share their love of astronomy with you.

As always, keep your eyes to the skies.