Tonight's Meteor Shower Is Spectacular Debris From Halley’s Comet
The annual Orionid meteor shower peaks tonight! Caused by small pieces of Comet Halley hitting our atmosphere at 147,000 miles per hour (66 kilometers per second), this shower is noted for variable rates - some years see only 15-20 meteors per hour on the peak night, whereas others have sported a maximum rate as high as 80-90 meteors per hour. The rates have been fairly low the past few years, and this year is particularly bad with the waning Moon located very close to the radiant, washing out the fainter meteors.