Monday, October 20, 2025
Orionid Meteor Shower, Morning 21-23 October 2025
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| Morning sky as seen from Darwin facing north at 5:05 am ADST 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 3:43 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 4:54 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, best seen between 2-5 am,
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 Moon won't interfere with the shower.
You can find out the predicted rates for your location using the NASA meteor flux estimator (use 8 Orionids and make sure you set the dates to 21-22 October 2022).
Unfortunately, both Chrome and Firefox have changed their security settings to prevent plugins from running, and the flux estimator only runs under Edge in Internet Explorer mode now (an you now have to turn on IE mode manually in settings).
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 unsalubrious park for example). Look to the north-east, and the
distinctive red star Betelgeuse below the saucepan will be easy to spot with bright Jupiter below 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).
The following table shows the predicted peak rates at around the peak maximum local
time (roughly 2 hours before local sunrise on the mornings of the 21st, 22nd and 23rd 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 21 | Morning October 22 | Morning October 23 |
| Adelaide | 11 meteors/hr | 14 meteors/hr | 13 meteors/hr |
| Brisbane | 13 meteors/hr | 17 meteors/hr | 15 meteors/hr |
| Cairns | 14 meteors/hr | 18 meteors/hr | 16 meteors/hr |
| Canberra | 11 meteors/hr | 14 meteors/hr | 13 meteors/hr |
| Darwin | 15 meteors/hr | 20 meteors/hr | 18 meteors/hr |
| Perth | 12 meteors/hr | 16 meteors/hr | 13 meteors/hr |
| Melbourne | 10 meteors/hr | 13 meteors/hr | 12 meteors/hr |
| Sydney | 11 meteors/hr | 15 meteors/hr | 14 meteors/hr |
| Hobart | 9 meteors/hr | 12 meteors/hr | 11 meteors/hr |
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
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