Punjab News 24, October 20: The meteor shower is visible throughout October, but it hits its peak on the nights of the 20th and 21st of October.

That’s when it’s possible to see between 15 and 30 meteors every hour. According to NASA, it is going to be one of the most beautiful meteor shower of the year.

The Orionid meteor shower occurs every year in October as debris from Halley’s comet comes into contact with the Earth’s atmosphere.

Although the comet itself is only visible from Earth every 75 years — the next sighting will be 2061 — its debris still causes the impressive meteor shower.

When our orbit intersects the debris, it burns up in our atmosphere at a speed of around 66 kilometres a second.

Orionid meteors have the potential to be visible anywhere on Earth, but Orion’s Sword is the best position in the sky for stargazers to look.

However, finding the astronomical asterism in the constellation Orion is not a necessity — the lack of moonlight from the new moon means you should be able to see it with the naked eye from a wide-open area.