Observing the sky
Orionids 2026: plan your night of 21–22 October
The Orionid meteor shower peaks on the night of 21–22 October 2026. A bright Moon makes choosing your observing hours especially useful this year. If you are planning an outing together, start with a dark location, a weather check and a little patience: even a quiet watch can become a shared memory.
Which night should you put in the diary?
The peak night runs from the evening of 21 October into the dawn of 22 October. The shower is active from 2 October to 7 November, with a broad maximum around the peak. Keep a nearby night available if clouds interrupt your plans.
Orionids can be observed from both hemispheres after midnight. Your location changes the view and the useful observing hours, so treat the date as a starting point for your own plan.
Find the darker hours after local moonset
A waxing gibbous Moon will brighten the sky around the peak and make faint meteors harder to see. Check when it sets at your observing location, then look for a window before dawn. There is no single clock time that works everywhere.
Check the forecast again before leaving. A planetarium helps you prepare, but the real view also depends on clouds, nearby lighting and obstacles. If the available window is impractical, choose another night during the shower rather than forcing the outing.
Open Stellarium Web, select your location, set the date and local time, and check the time zone used. Search for “Orion”, then “Moon”. Advance the time to inspect the Moon’s setting and the sky before dawn. Buildings and clouds are not included.
Plan in Stellarium Web (new tab)Watch a broad sky with the naked eye
Choose a safe, open spot away from direct lights. Meteors can cross different parts of the sky: let your gaze range widely instead of fixing it on Orion. A telescope or binoculars are unnecessary. Bring a reclining chair or blanket, and give your eyes about 30 minutes to adjust to darkness.
NASA lists about 10–20 Orionids per hour under dark skies. That is a reference for good conditions, not a promised count for your session. Moonlight, cloud and light pollution can reduce what you see. Plan time to wait, without making a tally the measure of a successful evening.
What is an Orionid shooting star?
The Orionids come from debris left by Halley’s Comet. A meteor is the brief luminous event produced as this material enters Earth’s atmosphere; it is not a star moving across the sky. The name refers to the direction from which the meteors appear to radiate, near Orion. You are observing a fleeting event against a background of distant stars.
Keep a memory of the night you actually shared
Afterwards, note the location, date, local time and time zone, along with anything you noticed. A short description can preserve the experience whether you saw several meteors, one bright streak or none.
If you would like a keepsake, a personalised sky map can represent the starfield for your chosen moment and place. It does not reconstruct a particular meteor’s trail. Choose the time that matters to your memory; creating a poster is an optional next step after observing.
Sources
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