🌠 The time has come, my friends. The Orionid meteor shower is upon us—and thanks to a perfectly timed new moon, 2025 has all the ingredients for an absolutely spectacular celestial show. Now all we need is for the weather to cooperate. Fingers crossed. Toes crossed. All the things crossed.

But the Orionids aren’t just pretty, free, and a good time 😉. The Orionids are a direct tether to one of the solar system’s all-time greats—a comet world hall-of-famer. Our cosmic Michael Jackson: the one and only Halley's Comet.

To fully appreciate tonight’s meteor shower, we need to rewind a couple… thousand years. Halley's Comet (officially designated 1P/Halley) is arguably the most famous comet in history—and not just for one singular reason. It’s legacy is a blend of scientific revolution, historical resonance, and pop culture mythos. So, let's take a look at what makes this comet stand out amongst the rest.

Before Halley, comets were unpredictable, ominous, and one-off events. But in 1705, English astronomer Edmond Halley used Newton’s laws to study comet sightings from 1531, 1607, and 1682. He concluded they were the same object on a repeating elliptical orbit—and predicted the comet’s return in 1758.

He was right.

Though Halley didn’t live to see it (which is a total bummer), his accurate prediction proved that comets are permanent solar system residents, orbiting the Sun just like planets. It was kind of a big deal in astronomy—and Halley’s name was immortalized.

Besides all the groundbreaking scientific stuff, Halley is the only known short-period comet (orbit of less than 200 years) that’s reliably visible to the naked eye. And since it returns (roughly) every 76 years, this means that some lucky humans get to see it twice in one lifetime—a rare bridge between cometkind and humankind.

If the groundbreaking scientific stuff AND the love this comet shows to us here on Earth is still not enough to impress you- Halley's Comet has been recorded and interpreted for over 2,000 years. A few highlights:

Every meteor shower begins with a comet—and every comet leaves behind a trail.

Halley's Comet, like all comets, is a “dirty snowball” made of ice and dust. Each time it swings close to the Sun (about every 76 years), solar heat causes its icy surface to vaporize, releasing a stream of dust and rock fragments into space. These particles (called meteoroids, btw) spread out over time, forming a vast, elongated debris trail that loops around the Sun, tracing the comet’s orbit like a trail of cosmic breadcrumbs.

Cue: Earth.

Since our planet also orbits the Sun, it occasionally crosses paths with one of these ancient rivers of comet dust. When that happens, we experience a meteor shower. Those tiny fragments of cosmic breadcrumbs, often no bigger than a grain of sand, slam into Earth’s atmosphere at speeds of up to 41 miles per second. The friction causes them to burn up, creating the brilliant streaks of light we call “shooting stars.”

Most comets don’t intersect Earth’s orbit at all. Some intersect once. But Halley’s orbit is tilted just right—highly inclined and perfectly timed—to intersect twice. Two intersection points results in two annual meteor showers from the same celestial source.

Something like this:

Same stream of dust. Two different seasons. Two distinct meteor showers. One legendary comet. Thank you, Halley!

The Orionids are among the fastest meteors known. Their speed often produces bright flashes, fireballs, and glowing “trains”—trails of ionized gas that linger after the meteor vanishes.

What to Watch For:

This year’s Orionids peak on the night of October 20–21, with maximum activity in the pre-dawn hours of October 21st. And here’s the cosmic cherry on top: the new moon also falls on October 21st, meaning no moonlight to wash out the show. Just dark skies and comet dust.

This screenshot from the Stellarium app illustrates how to find the constellation Orion. Look toward the east just after midnight on October 21st to see it rise.

Tips for Enjoying the Show: