By Madhuri Dey
Oct. 21 (THAINDIAN NEWS) The Orionid meteor shower took place on Wednesday from 1 a.m. in the morning. The viewing time was the same, irrespective of the time zone. The meteors were visible till well into dawn.

This annual meteor shower takes place every year when the earth passes through bits of rocks left by the Halley’s Comet a long time ago. As any and every body would know, a meteor shower occurs when bits of those rocks enter the earth’s atmosphere and vaporizes. They flare up due to the friction caused when they come in contact with the earth’s atmosphere.

According to predictions, the peak time of watching the meteor shower was from around 1 a.m. to 6 am. in the morning, depending on where it was viewed from. The cities and the suburbs did not get a very clear view, as there is generally a lot of pollution in these areas. It was best viewed in and around villages and other ares where pollution is minimum. The peak time to view the shower from any place is when that particular point of the earth passes through the densest part of the derelict comet.

The astronomers were predicting that the shower would keep up a steady flow of around sixty meteors per hours. Orionid is considered by many scientists around the world to provide one of the best meteor showers in the world. In fact, the astronomers were indeed hoping that the meteor count per hour will increase this year.

Wednesday is being slated to be the perfect time to view the meteor shower. The sky was clear, and other celestial bodies like the Venus, Mars, Sirius and Orion could be seen too.