Tiny bits of Halley dust that burn up in our planet's atmosphere produced a meteor shower, called the Orionids, that peaked this weekend, October 21st and 22nd. The debris particles, usually no bigger than grains of sand, gradually spread along the comet's orbit until it is almost uniformly filled with tiny meteoroids. May. No matter where you live, the best time to see Orionid meteors is during the hours before dawn. On October 20th through 23rd. Rural observers enjoyed as many as 20 shooting stars per hour.
Orionid meteoroids are fast.
They hit the atmosphere at a head-spinning velocity of 90,000 mph. There's no danger, though, because the tiny specks of dust disintegrate well above the stratosphere. True to their name, the Orionids will appear to stream from the constellation Orion, which is high in the southern sky before dawn. The best place to look for meteors is not, however, directly toward Orion. Orionids can appear anywhere in the sky, with tails that point back to the shower's radiant above Orion's left shoulder.