The Orionid shower is created by debris left behind by Halley's Comet that comes into contact with the atmosphere of our planet every October. When the debris enters the Earth, it will burn up and zip across the sky as white streaks of light.

The Orionid meteors gets their name as they appear to emerge from a radiant in the Orion constellation. As compared to the Perseids in August or the Gemenids in December, the Orionids are said to be modest in nature, but too spectacular to be missed.

"Slooh will present a live broadcast of this active and reliable meteor shower in conjunction with our multiple partner sites around the world," the Slooh website stated, "Like all meteor showers, the Orionids occur as the Earth passes through the debris-strewn path of a comet, in this case, Halley's Comet."

"The meteors are simply tiny bits of ice and dust that fell away from the comet and plowed into our atmosphere, the statement added, "Because of the geometry of the Earth' orbit relative to the debris stream, the Orionids appear to originate from a point near the upraised 'club' of the constellation Orion just north of the bright red-orange star Betelgeuse."

 When to watch the Orionid meteor shower

The Orionid meteor shower, which occurs every year during October-November, will peak on 21 and 22 October this year. 

If you are lucky enough, you can catch up to 30 meteors every hour during the peak days. The best time to watch the Orionids is after the moon set during the pre-dawn hours.

Best Hours: Night of 21 October to dawn of 22 October
Shower Rate: 10 to 20 meteors per hour

How to watch the Orionid meteor shower

Leave the concrete jungle and the city-lights behind and go to a rural area with open sky; it will increase your visibility.

If you don't have a telescope or binocular, fret not; you can watch the meteor shower with naked eyes. It will take about 20 to 30 minutes to adjust your eyes to darkness. So keep your smartphones and other artificial light sources away to get maximum visibility.

Live Streaming Information

You can watch the Orionid meteor shower live on Slooh website.