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a meteor shower from halley's comet

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presented by

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science at nasa

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usually waking up before sunrise is a

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good way to get a head start on the day

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on october 21st waking up early could

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stop you in your tracks

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blame halley's comet

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every year in mid to late october earth

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passes through a stream of dusty debris

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from comet halley and the pre-dawn sky

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lights up with a pretty display of

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shooting stars

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we expect to see about 25 meteors per

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hour when the shower peaks on sunday

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morning october 21st says bill cook the

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head of nasa's meteoroid environment

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office

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with no moon to spoil the show observing

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conditions should be ideal

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because these meteors streak out of the

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constellation orion astronomers call

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them

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the orionid meteor shower isn't the

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strongest but it is one of the most

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beautiful showers of the year notes cook

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the reason is it's setting

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the shower is framed by some of the

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brightest stars and planets in the

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heavens

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constellations such as taurus gemini and

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orion provide a glittering backdrop for

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the display

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but that's not all

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this year venus and jupiter have moved

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into position with sirius the dog star

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to form a bright triangle in the eastern

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predawn sky

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on the morning of october 21st blazing

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pieces of halley's comet will cut

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straight through the heart of this

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celestial triad

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to see the show cook suggests going

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outside one to two hours before sunrise

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when the sky is dark and the

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constellation orion is high overhead

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lie down on a blanket with a broad view

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of the heavens

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although orionids emerge from a small

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area near the shoulder of orion they

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will spray across the entire sky

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be prepared for speed he adds

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meteoroids from halley's comet strike

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earth's atmosphere traveling 148 000

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miles per hour

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only the november leonids are faster

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speed is important because fast meteors

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have a tendency to explode

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occasionally orionid fireballs will

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leave incandescent streams of debris in

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their wake that linger for minutes

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such filaments of meteor smoke twisted

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by upper atmospheric winds into

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convoluted shapes can be even prettier

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than the meteors themselves

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it really is a wonderful morning to be

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awake says cook

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just

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don't plan on going anywhere in a hurry

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for more news about events in the night