Orionids radiant. You will see Orion to your southwest at about 5 am. Click to go to the image source: meteorshowersonline.com for more info.

One of the best meteor showers of the year is about to occur, the Orionids.  The Orionids are so named because it appears they are coming from the constellation Orion.  They indeed do appear to come from general direction of Orion and they really are dust particles that have come off from Halley’s Comet.

The dust particles may be only the size of a grain of sand but they do make for a great show most years.  The moon is going to mess things up a little this year but it’s still worth a look if you have clear skies.  I don’t think the moon will make conditions quite as bad as they were for the Perseids or as bad as they will be for the Leonids next month, but it will keep a damper on things.

The best time to see the show is before 5am either of the weekend days, Orion will be about to your south west so look south.  I’ll be out there you just know that.  I also found the tripod for my little camera so I might fiddle around with that some too!