Thousands of years old dust appears in the night sky

The meteor shower that will appear in a cloudless night sky is dust several thousand years old from the famous Halley comet burning up upon meeting the Earth's atmosphere. Those who missed the shower night on Wednesday get a new chance on Thursday night. These nights are considered the "annual maximum." – Those in a dark place, with little clouds, can experience a beautiful meteor shower in the coming nights, says astrophysicist Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard. 238,000 kilometers per hour The shower is called the Orionids because the shooting stars seem to stream out from the constellation Orion. The comet itself is in the outer parts of the solar system, but this week the Earth is passing through the dust band that the comet has left behind. When the dust particles hit the atmosphere at a speed of 238,000 kilometers per hour—which is equivalent to the flight distance from Kirkenes to Stavanger in 25 seconds—they burn up quickly and create bright streaks. The moon sets during the night, which makes the conditions ideal just when the shower is at its best. – After midnight, and especially later in the night, we can see 10–20 shooting stars per hour from this shower from completely dark places. Some years the activity increases even more, so this is definitely a shower worth following, urges Ødegaard. The chance is greatest in the north There is still a tension: the cloud cover. Meteorologist Ingrid Bentsen reports that the weather will vary greatly in different parts of the country. But one region stands out with the greatest chance of seeing the shower. – The first few nights you might be able to see it in Trøndelag, but the weather will be nicer and clearer in Northern Norway, so they have the best chance, says Bentsen. For the South Norway part, it will be cloudy over most of the region until Thursday night. However, it will be clearer on Friday night and the weekend.