S. P. Williams

Seen any "shooting stars" lately? If you want to, be outside on the night of October 21^st, as late as you can stand (or even better, very early the next morning). That night is the peak of the Orionid meteor shower. It is given that name since the source of the meteors seems to come right out of the shoulders of the figure in the constellation Orion. It’s a good opportunity to see the meteors since the constellation will rise above the horizon after midnight, while the Moon won’t rise for several hours after that. The observer should spot a dozen or so per hour. These particles, burning up in our atmosphere, are leftovers from the passage of Comet Halley.

If you stand and look to the southern night sky in October, several of the better-known Zodiac constellations are right there. They might not be so easy to see, but everyone has heard of them. On the eastern side will be Aries (the ram), then in the center of the sky will be Pisces (the fish), Aquarius (the water bearer) and Capricornus (the sea-goat) in the center of the sky and then Sagittarius (the archer) toward the western horizon.

If you turn to the northern sky, most of the familiar star pattern, the Big Dipper, is below the horizon for the early night hours, but the Little Dipper, with Polaris, the North Star, at the end of its handle, is right there to see. Polaris stands the same distance above the horizon that we here are above the earth's equator. As we go north or south of here, the North Star gets higher or lower in the night sky. And it really does show direction north. It stands almost directly over the earth's north pole...and that's the real north!