Meteor shower tonight

Stargazers have a chance to see shooting stars early tomorrow. Photo: Cynthia Qiu.

The Orionid meteor show peaks tonight, for anyone looking for free outdoor entertainment in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The show which will be visible on clear nights until November 7, is expected to peak tonight and early tomorrow morning as the constellation Orion (The Pot) is above the horizon.

On a normal night viewers may see between two and four meteors per hour - however during a large meteor shower stargazers can see up to 100 meteors in one hour. This shower is expected to be less than that, maybe between 20 and 30 meteors per hour.

The Orionid shower happens every October and is caused by debris from Halley's Comet coming into the Earth's atmosphere. The radiant point – where they appear to come from is near the star Betelgeuse – the red supergiant star directly below The Pot.

Check here for the location in the sky tonight.

Orionids meteor shower for Tauranga (Night between 20 October and 21 October)

Time Azimuth/Direction Altitude

Sat 1:00 a.m. 65°East-northeast 6.3°

Sat 2:00 a.m. 55°Northeast 16.5°

Sat 3:00 a.m. 42°Northeast 25.4°

Sat 4:00 a.m. 28°North-northeast 32.2°

Sat 5:00 a.m. 11°North 36.1°

Azimuth is the direction, based on true north; a compass might show a slightly different value. Altitude is height in degrees over horizon.

Check the weather: Meteors, or shooting stars, are easy to spot, all you need is clear skies and a pair of eyes.

Get out of town: Find a place as far away as possible from artificial lights

Prepare to wait: Bring something to sit or lie down on. Star gazing is a waiting game, so get comfortable.

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