Orionid meteor shower to reach its peak tonight

KATHMANDU: The Orionid meteor shower caused by the Halley’s Comet will be at its peak tonight from 10:45 till 5:45 am on Wednesday.

According to the Nepal Astronomical Society, during the peak downpour of such meteors, it is estimated that up to 15 meteors can be seen every hour.

Society’s President Suresh Bhattarai shared that the meteors drop at the rate of 67-kilometers per second, causing friction above the 70-kilo meters above the earth’s atmosphere.

This annual celestial event is generally perceptible from 2 October to 7 November. These meteors shower is called the Orionid meteor shower because its source appears to be the Orion constellation, according to Bhandari.

A comet releases dust and rock fragments when it reaches closer to the sun in the course of its revolution and when the Earth, in the course of its revolution round the sun, comes near the comet’s orbit, the dust and the rock fragments left behind by the comet burn with bright illumination as they enter the atmosphere.

This phenomenon is called meteor shower. There are two types of such phenomena. The first is one is Eta Aquarids that are visible during early May while Orionid occur during this time.