Astroblog: Orionid Meteor Shower, Morning 22-23 October 2026

Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Orionid Meteor Shower, Morning 22-23 October 2026


Morning sky as seen from Darwin facing north at 4:00 am ACST on 22 October (90 minutes before sunrise), the Orionid radiant is indicated with a starburst. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at an equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.	Morning sky as seen from Brisbane facing north at 3:44 am AEST on 22 October (90 minutes before sunrise), the Orionid radiant is indicated with a starburst. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at an equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.	Morning sky as seen from Adelaide facing north at 4:55 am ACDST on 22 October (90 minutes before sunrise), the Orionid radiant is indicated with a starburst. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at an equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.

The Orionids are a worthwhile shower that somewhat favours the Southern Hemisphere, normally best seen between 2-5 am, with the radiant, the point where meteors appear to originate from, being just under Betelgeuse, the bright red star in Orion. The maps above show the views from Darwin, Brisbane and Adelaide at astronomical twilight (90 minutes before sunrise). Similar views will be seen at the equivalent local time at similar latitudes (Adelaide stands in for Melbourne, Sydney and Perth).

If you draw an imaginary line between Procyon and Aldebaran, then drop another imaginary line from Betelgeuse to the horizon, the radiant is just next to the intersection of those two lines.

The Orionids are the debris from Halley's comet. The Orionids maximum is on October 21 UT (October 22 Australian time).

This year the waning Moon will significantly interfere with viewing in the early evening and the rates will be low. Once the moon sets around 4 am the rates will be better.

The best viewing is the mornings of the 22nd-23rd, when between 4-5 am under dark skies you should see about a meteor every 5-6 minutes once the Moon has set, although reasonable rates will be seen the mornings before and after (see table below).

The NASA meteor flux estimator has been taken down, but you can find out the predicted rates for your location using this meteor shower flux estimator set to your location. https://astrophotosgy.com/tools/meteor-shower-planner/?lat=-34.8212&lon=138.4922&date=2026-10-22&time=02%3A00&shower=orionids .

The following table shows the predicted peak rates from around moon set local time (roughly 2 hours before local sunrise on the mornings of the 22nd, 23rd and 24th of October for a number of cities under dark sky conditions (rates under suburban or city light conditions will be lower). Rates will be similar at the same latitude as these cities, and rates will be intermediate at spots between these cities.

Town	Morning October 22	Morning October 23	Morning October 24
Adelaide	11 meteors/hr	12 meteors/hr	12 meteors/hr
Brisbane	14 meteors/hr	14 meteors/hr	14 meteors/hr
Cairns	16 meteors/hr	16 meteors/hr	16 meteors/hr
Canberra	11 meteors/hr	12 meteors/hr	12 meteors/hr
Darwin	17 meteors/hr	17 meteors/hr	17 meteors/hr
Perth	13 meteors/hr	13 meteors/hr	13 meteors/hr
Melbourne	10 meteors/hr	11 meteors/hr	11 meteors/hr
Sydney	12 meteors/hr	12 meteors/hr	12 meteors/hr
Hobart	9 meteors/hr	9 meteors/hr	9 meteors/hr

You can follow the progress of the shower at the IMO Orionids live page.

If you decide to get up, allow at least 5 minutes for your eyes to adjust, and be patient, it may be several minutes before you are rewarded with you first meteor, then a couple will come along in quick succession.

Choose a viewing spot where you can see a large swathe of sky without trees or buildings getting in the way, or with street-lights getting in your eyes. The darker the spot the better (but do be sensible, don't choose a spot in an insalubrious park for example). Look to the north-east, and the distinctive red star Betelgeuse below the saucepan will be easy to spot, forming a rough line with with bright Procyon, Mars and Jupiter below and to the east of it. The meteors should originate just below Betelgeuse. However, let your eyes roam a bit to pick up meteors that begin their "burn" a fair distance from the radiant.

A lawn chair or something similar will make your observing comfortable (or a picnic rug spread on the ground and a nice pillow), and having a Thermos of hot coffee, tea or chocolate to swig while watching will increase your comfort. (Here's some hints on dark adaption of your eyes so you can see meteors better).

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Labels: Meteors, Orionids, unaided eye