The peak of the 2015 Orionid meteor shower has passed now. Here are some awesome photos from the Earthsky community!
© Barry Simmons
Barry Simmons said: "Caught this Orionid fireball on the morning of October 22. It's the BEST meteor shot I've gotten since I started shooting meteors several years ago." Captured at Lake Martin, Alabama. Thank you, Barry, and thanks Nanette Estes Simmons!
© John Ashely
took this photo in Makoshika State Park, near Glendive, Montana on October 20, 2015. He told EarthSky: "Nice amount of moonlight to start off last night's portion of the Orionid meteor shower. Only saw about a dozen bright ones but they were spectacular as always. Shot at Makoshika State Park, which derives its name from the Lakota phrase for bad land."
© GreatSouthBayImages
The morning planets - Venus, Jupiter, Mars - and a meteor! Captured October 22, 2015 by Mike Busch of
GreatSouthBayImages on Facebook.
© Greg Hogan
| Greg Hogan wrote, "Up at 5 a.m. on October 21 and set up to watch the Orionids. It was a very active display in the hour that I saw. I counted well over a dozen. I took 350+ shots and was able to compile them all into a single image. Some Orionids were very faint, but some were bright. I saw more then I was able to capture. I will definitely be up tomorrow morning to watch it again." Thank you, Greg.
© Greg Hogan
Here's Greg Hogan's photo from the following day, meteors near Orion. Not sure these are Orionids, since they don't appear to be radiating from the constellation, but, during every annual shower, you can see meteors scooting along in other directions as well. Taken in Kathleen, Georgia on the morning of October 22, 2015.
Ben Mclerran contacted EarthSky to point to the following video, which he said is a clip from his sky cams. They are Samsung security cameras. Be sure to watch the slow-motion part, where you can see what looks like
smoke coming off the meteor. Ben said this meteor was:
... bright green like the one in the picture from Alabama [top of post].
A special surprise for all our viewing friends! (link to video)
Posted by Jewel Mclerran on Thursday, 22 October 2015
© Aaron Robinson
Orionid meteor shower 2015, by Aaron Robinson. Taken October 22, 2015 in Idaho Falls, Idaho @ 4:30 a.m. MDT.
© Joan Schipper
Joan Schipper wrote: "The Sierra Club Camera Committee went to Joshua Tree National Park trying to catch some Orionid meteors in pixels. Eight of us were staked out in various locations at White Tank campground. This is my third attempt to capture meteors and my second bit of success. I'm hoping to find more in my 100s of photo files. I was happy to see a color meteor streak and lucky that it was so close to Orion!"
By the way, the Orionids aren't the only major meteor shower in October.
The Draconid meteor shower takes place slightly earlier in the month. The video below was sent in by Jeremy Evans, who captured it near the peak of the Draconid shower on October 10, 2015. Inyo National Forrest, John Muir Wilderness. Jeremy wrote:
Even though this year was predicted to be a 'sleeper,' I saw a lot more than I expected.
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