Orionids meteor shower to delight the sky tonight

KATHMANDU: The annual Orionid meteor shower, a beautiful annual celestial event, will reach its peak tonight.

Sky-gazers and enthusiasts in Nepal can expect to see 15-20 meteors per hour whooshing past the night sky from 10:45 pm (NST) to 5:45 am.

The Orionid meteors are visible from almost every part of the Earth every year during Oct 2 to Nov 7 as our planet intersects with the path of Halley's Comet in the constellation of Orion. The comet's debris stream radiate away from Betelgeuse star, the second brightest star in the constellation.

However, sky-gazers are advised to spot and rather look away from Orion constellation or well known Orion's belt because the meteors moving at an incredible speed of more than 238,182 kilometres per hour leave short trails in the constellation.

As per reports, looking at the night sky will just do fine when it comes to spotting the spectacular shower.

Moreover, the meteor shower is expected to peak during early morning hours on October 21 and 22, while the best view will be during a brief window between setting of the moon and beginning of morning twilight.