Keep your eyes trained on the sky this week, Seattle!
Did you know there is currently a meteor shower happening every night above Seattle? The Orionid meteor shower is active from September 26 to November 22 each year. It typically peaks around mid-October. This year, the peak of the Orionid meteor shower is expected to be October 21-22. That means that you have a chance of seeing some of the best meteors of the year this Friday and Saturday.
Check out this video of a meteor (as confirmed by the National Weather Service) captured by a Seattleite last week:
This flash in the Seattle sky at 10:18pm woke me right up. Meteor? Satellite? That Astros homer finally returning to Earth? (Sorry)
Any ideas @NWSSeattle ?
(Located in West Queen Anne. Ignore the camera light’s blue reflection on my window glass.)
#meteor pic.twitter.com/0Rq8DBmVTn
— Jack Clemens (@jack_clemens) October 13, 2022
As you can see in the above clip, Orionid meteors tend to be extremely large and bright with dramatic tails. They are actually space debris from Halley’s Comet.
If we have clear skies, you’ll definitely want to do a little nighttime sky watching at the end of this week. You may be able to see around 15 meteors on average every hour!
If you really want to have the best view of the Orionid meteor shower in Seattle, you may want to head away from the bright city lights. That said, the brightest meteors will be easily seen from Seattle if the skies stay clear. As much as we want rain this weekend, we’re also crossing our fingers that we’ll get a glimpse of the year’s most epic meteor shower!