Lovers of spectacle in the cosmos, take note! Tomorrow shooting stars will pass over Drenthe. The chance of spotting the Orionids, as these shooting stars are called, is greatest at 6:00 am. At that time you can see up to 26 shooting stars per hour.
The Orionids are an annual meteor shower visible from Earth from October 16 to 26.
Weatherman Gert Voerman expects reasonable conditions for spotting the meteors. “It is a bit cloudy, but that is part of autumn. There will be periods of clear skies tomorrow morning, and early birds should take advantage of them,” Voerman advises.
Anyone who wants to see shooting stars should not flop down in a folding chair and wait for the Orionids to appear, Voerman emphasizes. “People really have to go out themselves. Keep an eye online to see where the sky opens. Do you see a clear part of Drenthe? Then quickly get in the car and drive in that direction.”
According to Voerman, in that case it pays to get up early. “A shooting star remains something special. You only see this shower once a year. And officially they are not real stars, but dust particles from a comet.”
This comet, Halley’s Cometis located in the constellation Orion, which is often easily recognized in the sky. The dust particles and stones that this comet loses are visible on Earth once a year as the Orionids.
Anyone who misses the spectacle this year will have another chance next year.