Orionid Meteor Shower Peaks This Week Alongside rare Comet Viewing Possibility
skywatchers are in for a treat this week as the Orionid meteor shower reaches its peak, offering a dazzling display of “shooting stars.” The shower, active now, is expected to peak overnight on October 21-22, with optimal viewing conditions thanks to a new moon. Adding to the celestial spectacle, two comets – Lemmon (C/2025 A6) adn SWAN (C/2025 R2) - are also making close approaches, potentially becoming visible to the naked eye.
The Orionids are caused by debris shed from Halley’s Comet, which last visited Earth in 1986 and won’t return until 2061. As Earth passes through this dust trail, tiny particles burn up in our atmosphere, creating the streaks of light we see as meteors. The radiant point – the area of the sky from which the meteors appear to originate – lies in the constellation Orion, near the star Betelgeuse. While meteors can be seen across the entire night sky, tracing them back to Orion helps identify them as Orionids.
This year’s shower is notably exciting due to the concurrent appearances of Comets Lemmon and SWAN. Comet lemmon makes its closest approach on October 20-21, while Comet SWAN reaches perihelion around the same time. If these comets brighten as anticipated, observers could witness a rare combination of a meteor shower and naked-eye comets.
October’s night sky is already proving eventful for stargazers. The month began with a full Harvest Moon on October 6-7 and the peak of the Draconid meteor shower on October 8. Upcoming highlights include a close pairing of the moon and the Pleiades star cluster on October 9-10, Venus with a crescent moon on October 19, and Mercury and Mars with the moon on October 23.