Orionid meteor shower to light up NZ skies

Sunday, 22 October 2023

Meteors in the Orionid meter shower, as seen from Portabello, on the Otago Peninsula. (File photo)

Stargazers are in for a treat on Sunday night with the best meteor shower of the year set to light up the skies with dozens of “shooting stars” every hour.

The annual Orionid meteor shower occurs when Earth passes through the trail of dust and debris left behind by Halley’s comet, which passes the planet roughly every 75 years.

This year’s shower started on October 2 and is expected to last until November 7, with Sunday night the best opportunity to catch the cosmic light show.

Astronomer Ian Griffin told RNZ stargazers willing to venture outside about 3am would get the best view.

A group of amateur astronomers are pushing the case for dark sky preservation.

“The best time to see the meteors is once the moon has gone down, so between 3am and sunrise.”

As long as the weather played ball, the meteor shower should be visible with the naked eye from anywhere in the country, he said.

Griffin said the shooting stars would be visible “every few minutes … it should be a really good show.”

Meteor showers are named for the constellation the meteors appear to come from, in this case Orion, which is clearly visible in the northwestern night sky during the Southern Hemisphere summer.

Along with the Southern Cross, Orion is one of the easiest constellations to recognise. But while the ancient Greeks recognised Orion as a giant with a sword and belt, those in the Southern Hemisphere have an upside-down view of the star formation.

From New Zealand, Orion more closely resembles a saucepan, with three bright stars forming the base of the pot, and three faint stars making up the handle.