Everything you need to know about the meteor shower at its peak

BAlthough we mostly talk about it in the summer, the sky is showered with beautiful meteor showers all year round. All you have to do is raise your head to observe them. Among these is the Orionids, whose display takes place every October – between October 2nd and November 7th. They are, according to NASAamong the highlights of this year.

Their next peak of activity is scheduled for Sunday, October 22. This weekend, it is expected that between ten and twenty meteors per hour will fall. But be careful, you’ll have to focus, because although orionids are famous for being very bright, they are also particularly fast, moving at about 66 kilometers per second!

But actually, where did they come from? This shower of meteors comes from the most famous periodic comet: Halley’s Comet (1P/Halley), which was identified by the English astronomer and physicist Edmund Halley in 1705. Each time it makes a foray into the solar system inland, about once every 76 years – its last appearance dates back to The year 1986 and its next appearance is expected in 2061 – falling in its wake, ice and rocky debris.

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However, the Earth, moving in its orbit around the Sun, crosses its path every year at this same period. Then some of these fragments enter the atmosphere, where they burn up, forming bright trails that… […] read more