Fireballs in the Scottsdale Sky

Every year in mid-to-late October, Earth passes through a stream of dusty debris from Comet Halley, and the pre-dawn sky lights up with a pretty display of shooting meteors. To see the show in the sky above Scottsdale tonight go outside at midnight when the sky is dark and the constellation Orion is high overhead.  Lie down on a blanket with a broad view of the heavens. Because these meteors streak out of the constellation Orion, astronomers call them “Orionids.” Orionid fireballs will leave incandescent streams of debris in their wake that linger for minutes.  Such filaments of meteor smoke can be even prettier than the meteors themselves. You can expect to see about 25 meteors per hour. The “shooting stars” will be even more visually prominent because the new moon will be setting about midnight Saturday, allowing for a view unaffected by bright moonlight.  The Orionid meteor shower isn’t the strongest, but it is one of the most beautiful showers of the year.