Oct. 17, 2014: Waking up before sunrise is a good way to get a head start on the day. On Oct. 21st, waking up before sunrise could stop you in your tracks. 
 
 Blame Halley’s Comet. Every year in mid-to-late October, Earth passes through a stream of dusty debris from Comet Halley, and the pre-dawn sky can light up with a pretty display of shooting stars. 
 
 Larger image Orionid meteors fly out of a radiant near the shoulder of Orion, the Hunter. In this sky map, the radiant is denoted by a red dot. Although the meteors emerge from a single point, they can appear anywhere in the sky. Image credit: Dr. Tony Phillips [ 
 
 "We expect to see about 20 meteors per hour when the shower peaks on Tuesday morning, Oct 21st," says Bill Cooke, the head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "With no Moon to spoil the show, observing conditions should be ideal." 
 
 Because these meteors streak out of the constellation Orion, astronomers call them "Orionids." 
 
 "The Orionid meteor shower is not the strongest, but it is one of the most beautiful showers of the year," notes Cooke. 
 
 The reason is its setting: The shower is framed by some of the brightest stars in the heavens. Constellations such as Taurus, Gemini and Orion provide a glittering backdrop for the display. The brightest star of all, Sirius, is located just below Orion's left foot, a good place to point your camera while you're waiting for meteors. 
 
 An Orionid meteor streaks over the city lights of Shanghai in 2009. Credit: Jefferson Teng 
 
 To see the show, Cooke suggests going outside one to two hours before sunrise when the sky is dark and the constellation Orion is high overhead. Lie down on a blanket with a broad view of the heavens. Although Orionids emerge from a small area near the shoulder of Orion, they will spray across the entire sky. 
 
 "Be prepared for speed," he adds. "Meteoroids from Halley’s Comet strike Earth's atmosphere traveling 148,000 mph. Only the November Leonids are faster." 
 
 Speed is important because fast meteors have a tendency to explode. Occasionally, Orionid fireballs will leave incandescent streams of debris in their wake that linger for minutes. Such filaments of "meteor smoke" twisted by upper atmospheric winds into convoluted shapes can be even prettier than the meteors themselves. 
 
 "It really is a wonderful morning to be awake," says Cooke. "Just don't plan on going anywhere in a hurry." 
 
 Credits: 
 
 Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Production editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA 
 
 More information: 
 
 NASA Meteoroid Environment Office -- home page 

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 REPLAY: Orionid Meteor Shower Peaks 
 
 By By Kevin Byrne, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer October 23, 2014, 6:30:14 AM EDT 
 
 A new moon allowed the perfect background for the dynamic peak of the Orionid Meteor Shower from Tuesday, Oct. 21 into the morning of Oct. 22. 
 
 Between midnight and dawn, as many as 25 meteors could be seen per hour, or one every two to three minutes, according to Slooh Astronomer Bob Berman. 
 
 Since it was very close to a new moon, the lack of moonlight provided darker skies and allowed for stellar viewing conditions. 
 
 “There’s no year better for the Orionids than this one,” Berman said. 
 
 Early in the night, when the meteors aren’t as abundant, Berman said it was best to look to the east. Yet as the night progressed and the Orionids become more prevalent, anyone with clear skies was able to see them in any direction they choose to face. 
 
 Slooh frequently airs live astronomy events by using community observatories from all around the world. For the Orionids, Slooh's has a recording of their live broadcast which started at 8 p.m. EDT on Tuesday. 
 
 Unfortunately for those in the Northeast, Pacific Northwest, and the northern Rockies to the High Plains, individual storm systems brought clouds that hindered viewing opportunities. 
 
 Viewing conditions were also be obstructed across southern and central Florida as clouds streamed in ahead of a feature in the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 For stargazers those who missed out on the Orionids, a replay of Slooh’s live broadcast can be found above. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Berman said they are using some new equipment such as low-light, high-resolution video cameras that are going to capture more of the meteors than they’ve ever captured before. 
 
 Accompanying the video broadcast is a radio feed broadcasted from Roswell, New Mexico, which will allow stargazers to hear the sounds of the meteors entering the ionosphere. 
 
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 "As the meteors enter the ionosphere, they, appropriately enough, ionize the air and that serves as a reflector for radio waves, so they actually give a crackle and a sound at the speed of light," Berman said. 
 
 “As the meteors are being seen, they can also be heard." 
 
 The Orionids, which are pieces of Halley’s Comet, produce unusually fast streaks across the sky because they hit Earth head on, Berman said. Earth moves through space at around 19 miles per second, but with speeds around 41 miles per second, the Orionids are about twice as fast as a high-velocity rifle bullet, he explained. 
 
 Berman said for reasons still unknown, the Orionids have a history of putting on a better show than expected. 
 
 There was a four-year period from 2006 to 2009 when the Orionids performed more like the famous Perseids, which occur in August, and can produce 60-70 meteors per hour. 
 
 “The uncertainty of whether we’re going to have a super shower this year or not is another reason to really pay attention,” Berman said. “We certainly have the great conditions for it, with this new moon.” 
 
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 (CNN) -- If you wake up early enough on Tuesday, you might see some shooting stars. 
 
 The predawn sky may be full of meteors as the Earth passes through a debris stream from Halley's Comet. This happens every October, NASA says. 
 
 "We expect to see about 20 meteors per hour when the shower peaks on Tuesday morning, Oct 21st," Bill Cooke, the head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, said in a NASA press release. "With no moon to spoil the show, observing conditions should be ideal." 
 
 For the best viewing, Cooke suggests going outside one to two hours before sunrise when the constellation Orion is high overhead. He says you should lie down on a blanket with a broad view of the sky. 
 
 "Be prepared for speed," he said. "Meteoroids from Halley's Comet strike Earth's atmosphere traveling 148,000 mph. Only the November Leonids are faster." 
 
 These meteors are called "Orionids" because they come out of the constellation Orion. 
 
 "The Orionid meteor shower is not the strongest, but it is one of the most beautiful showers of the year," Cooke said.
– The annual Orionid meteor shower will be at its peak before dawn today, and astronomers say that since it is very close to a new moon, conditions will be just right to see around 20 meteors per hour. A NASA spokesman says "observing conditions should be ideal" for "one of the most beautiful showers of the year" as the Earth passes through debris from Halley's comet, reports CNN. In a press release, NASA suggests lying down on a blanket outside an hour or two before dawn to catch sight of meteors streaking out of the constellation Orion. The meteor shower will also be visible tomorrow night, but for those whose view is obscured by clouds, the Slooh observatory service is offering a live feed that will capture not only the sight, but the sound of the Orionids. "As the meteors enter the ionosphere, they, appropriately enough, ionize the air and that serves as a reflector for radio waves, so they actually give a crackle and a sound at the speed of light," a Slooh astronomer tells AccuWeather.com. "As the meteors are being seen, they can also be heard."