dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (10/20/86)
A meteor shower -- and the moon -- after this. October 20 Meteors and Moonlight A meteor shower peaks before dawn on Tuesday. It's the Orionid shower -- so named because the meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Orion. This shower generally produces a meteor every few minutes -- or about 25 per hour. Unfortunately, this year, even if you avoid city lights, there's no way to avoid another source of bright light -- the moon. This year's Orionid meteor shower is expected to be drowned in moonlight. Meteors are bits of space debris, mostly tiny fragments of ice and dust left behind in the orbits of comets. The Orionid meteors have a famous parent comet -- Comet Halley. They were shed by the comet long ago, when Halley's orbit was slightly different than it is now. So Halley's recent return shouldn't make much difference in the number of Orionid meteors you might expect to see -- that is, if you see any meteors at all in the light of the moon. The moon itself is of interest tonight, though. After moonrise late this evening, it will be near in the sky to a famous star -- Aldebaran. Aldebaran is supposed to represent the fiery red eye of the bull in the constellation Taurus -- and if you look closely, you'll see that this star really is red in color. It's what is called a red giant star -- one near the end of its life. The outer layers of this star have become swollen and bloated --less dense -- and therefore cool and red. Aldebaran is located at one tip of a V-shaped pattern of stars -- representing the bull's face. You should have no trouble seeing the moon and the star Aldebaran nearby -- late Monday night or Tuesday morning. Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1985, 1986 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin