CAIRO: The Orionid meteor shower will be witnessed Wednesday in Egypt’s sky, the head of the Astronomy Department at the Institute for Astronomical Research, Ashraf Tadros said.
In statements to Youm7, Tadros said he expected the rate of fall to be 60 meteors per hour.
The shower reaches its peak on Oct. 20-22. Its normal rate is 20 meteors per hour for the northern hemisphere and 40 meteors in the southern hemisphere, Tadros added.
He said that the velocity of the meteor is 68 kilometers (42 miles) per second, but the moonlight would greatly hinder watching the shower; falling meteors are destroyed at a height of 68 km above the earth’s surface.
The meteor comes from one of the most famous comets in history, Halley’s Comet. Tadros said that the last time Halley Comet visited the earth was in 1986.
The Orionid is the second meteor to shower earth in October after the Draconid Meteor, which was also seen in Egypt’s sky with naked eyes.