The celestial highlights for the week ahead.
... [+]Several hours later, in the small hours of the next morning, the Orionid meteor shower peaks. In late October every year the Earth moves through streams of particles deposited in the inner Solar System in 1986 by the famous Halley’s Comet, which is not due back in these parts until 2061.
As those particles strike Earth’s atmosphere they energise and glow up to about 20 times per hour to create the Orionid meteor shower—so-called because the “shooting stars” appear to come from the direction of the constellation of Orion. However, the waning gibbous Moon—tonight 98%-lit—will blot-out all but the very brightest bits of the great comet.
Despite the full Moon having by now been and gone, on Thursday night our satellite will still appear to be full and, crucially, rise not long after sunset. As well as looking almost as grand as last night, the Moon will also be really useful as a guide to finding the seventh planet, Uranus, which you probably haven’t seen before. About 1.8 billion miles/2.9 billion kilometers distant, the blue-green disk of Uranus is best seen using a pair of binoculars or a small telescope.
Times and dates given apply to mid-northern latitudes. For the most accurate location-specific information consult online planetariums like
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