Meteor shower on Oct. 17-25 – PAGASA

Filipinos are in for a treat as the Orionids meteor shower will be active from Oct. 17-25, which is a result of the earth passing through dust released by the Halley’s Comet.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the Orionids meteor shower will be active from Oct. 17-25 but will reach its peak on Oct. 21-22.

At maximum rates, PAGASA said the shower may reach 15 meteors per hour that may be observed at favorable sky condition, but sometimes there are lulls even during the traditional maximum peak nights.

The Orionids are described as fast meteors and have fireballs.

According to PAGASA, the earth is passing through the stream of debris left behind by the Halley’s Comet, the parent comet of the Orionid shower.

The meteors are visible to the east in the evening and gradually to the west as the sun rises.

PAGASA said the square of Pegasus, an asterism of the constellation of Andromeda, the “chained maiden,” which is made up of four stars of nearly equal brightness takes center stage in the Philippine night sky after sunset.

This is a sign of the arrival of the northern fall.

Northeast of it lies the Andromeda galaxy (M31), the closest large spiral galaxy to the Milky Way galaxy PAGASA added.

Under clear skies and with the aid of a star map and familiarity with the surrounding background stars, it can be seen as an elongated misty patch with the naked eye and can be easily viewed through binoculars and telescopes, it explained.

Likewise, the splendid W formation of stars known as the constellation of Cassiopeia, lies to the left, while the constellation of Pisces can be found at the lower right of the square of Pegasus.

This month, PAGASA said famous equilateral triangle in the sky, known as the Winter Triangle rises after midnight.

The Triangle formed by stars is composed of Betelgeuse, the super giant red star and the prominent star of the famous constellation Orion, Sirius, the brightest star in the sky of the constellation Canis Major, and Procyon, the brightest star of the constellation Canis Minor.