--- title: What Time Is the Orionid Meteor Shower Tonight? description: The Orionid meteor shower peaks this weekend. Here's what time you should watch and how to get the best view. canonical: https://time.com/4990842/watch-peak-orionid-meteor-shower-this-weekend/ author: Kate Samuelson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-20T12:54:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:57:57.441Z article:section: Science og:title: What Time to Watch the Orionid Meteor Shower This Weekend og:description: It's one of the best meteor showers of the year og:url: https://time.com/4990842/watch-peak-orionid-meteor-shower-this-weekend/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltedc2d5a953f5c8c7/6988e2bf196cf4176904269b/orionid-meteor-shower.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3956 og:image:height: 2225 og:image:alt: What Time is the Orionid Meteor Shower? og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Time to Watch the Orionid Meteor Shower This Weekend twitter:description: It's one of the best meteor showers of the year twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltedc2d5a953f5c8c7/6988e2bf196cf4176904269b/orionid-meteor-shower.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Orionid Meteor Shower Peaks This Weekend. Here's What Time You Can Watch > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=2346ef16-8478-40c7-8fd4-40eaf7c719e7&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: How to Photograph at Night [Watch (HLS stream): How to Photograph at Night](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/UkEDGERp.m3u8) (4:11)  _Published 2016-08-09. Photographs by Stuart Palley_ by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Oct 20, 2017 12:54 PM UTC Monthly series for amateur astronomers. October 2017 features: viewing Venus, Mars, Uranus, the Moon and asteroid 7 Iris. Red stars Aldebaran, Antares and Betelgeuse. The Orionid meteor shower. International Observe the Moon Night (October 28). by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Oct 20, 2017 12:54 PM UTC Turn off [Netflix](http://time.com/4987446/netflix-binge-racing-shows/) this weekend and head outdoors to watch the peak of the Orionid Meteor Shower instead. The starry spectacle is set to take place between Oct. 20 and Oct. 22, offering a dazzling display that should delight veteran and novice [stargazers](http://time.com/4878968/total-solar-eclipse-2017-traffic/) alike. This year’s Orionid meteor shower should be especially good because there will be little moonlight that could otherwise drown out the meteors. Just make sure you have clear skies in your local forecast before heading out. “The Orionids peak on October 20 — a dark, moonless night,” wrote NASA’s Jane Houston Jones in a recent [statement](https://www.nasa.gov/mediacast/jpl/whats-up-october-2017). “Look near Orion’s club in the hours before dawn and you may see up to 10 to 15 meteors per hour.” In non-scientific language, the best time to watch the Orionid meteor shower is between midnight and dawn on Friday or Saturday night. It should be visible from anywhere on Earth, but a better shower will be seen in rural areas where there is less light pollution. Visit [Dark Site Finder](http://darksitefinder.com/map/) to locate the nearest dark sky site near you. You do not need a telescope to watch the meteors streaking across the entire sky. The Orionid meteor shower occurs each year as the earth moves through debris left behind by Halley’s Comet, the source of the Orionid meteors. The meteors, also known as shooting stars, are named Orionids because they appear to radiate from the constellation Orion, named after a hunter of Greek lore. Halley’s Comet is visible from the Earth only once every 75 years. It was last seen in the 1980s, when it [graced the cover of TIME magazine.](http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19851216,00.html) The comet is projected to return in 2061, according to [Space.com](https://www.space.com/19878-halleys-comet.html). ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [00:05] I fell in love with photographing at night both for how [00:09] cool the product looks and how beautiful the pictures [00:12] can be to see this capture of the milky way when [00:16] it's brilliance. So, this is placed in a different light that's [00:18] not day light. Its all about capturing the sense of scale [00:23] that photographing the Earth or the sky at night [00:26] creates. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [00:35] Iceland is an environment very much where nature is [00:39] always present. [ INAUDIBLE ] [00:47] [ MUSIC ] Timing the photograph and neither certainly [00:49] a critical aspect. It is literally ten times harder when it's [00:53] cold and you're in the dark and tired And fumbling [00:56] around for stuff and looking for views. So always try [00:57] and scout things out in advance if you can. 90 % [01:02] of it is preparation and 10 % of it is the actual [01:04] execution. I think the biggest thing when you're [01:08] photographing at night is to be open minded. [01:11] Sometimes conditions are going to change and your [01:13] pictures are not going to turn out How you thought [01:16] despite the biggest amount of planning both with [01:18] equipment and logistics and weather. And that's [01:20] something you just have to live with. And you have to [01:24] enjoy the pursuit and the process of it. [ MUSIC ] [01:33] There's a few apps I like to use to plan my shoots. The [01:36] first app that I use it's called Dark Sky Finder which is a [01:39] map of how bright and how dark places are. I also [01:43] use an app called Photopills and it actually [01:46] superimposes a 3- Dimensional view of the sky based [01:49] on your location and where you are. It'll also show you [01:52] when it will be completely dark, twilight, sunrise, or [01:55] sunset so it's a very robust and useful... Useful app for [01:58] a lot of the timing that is needed to pull off these night [02:01] shots. [ MUSIC ] [02:09] Here, natural shake and movement will make image [02:11] the blurry so having a tripod is critical for longer [02:14] exposures at night. I've had the same tripod for nine [02:18] years. and I've beaten it up. It's been all over the world [02:21] with me and it's well worth the investment. The other [02:25] important investment you want to make is a full frame [02:27] camera because it gives you a wider angle of view and [02:30] also better high iso capability. Start [02:34] with an iso of 1600 and an exposure of 30 seconds to [02:38] see how you need to change the exposure to properly [02:41] Create your vision and the image. When you take a [02:45] long exposure you're essentially capturing all that light [02:47] over period of time so what the camera showing is [02:50] even more enhanced and what we're seeing with the [02:52] human eye. The technology and the tools are just [02:55] means to put the vision that's in my mind into to reality [02:58] [ MUSIC ] [03:05] Generally speaking I will photograph just under [03:07] starlight. It's good to have a headlamp or a flashlight [03:11] that has a red filter or a red lense because the red [03:14] light allows you to see at night but also retain your [03:16] vision more strongly. [ MUSIC ] [03:24] What I like doing too is doing some basic light painting. [03:26] But I prefer to use a LED light and sometimes [03:30] fill in the foreground. [ MUSIC ] At the [03:36] end of the day, this [03:40] is a creative process. And you don't want to get stuck [03:43] into one method. Document or photograph things that [03:46] have a resonance with you. If you feel an emotion to it, [03:50] or a reaction to it. that might be worth capturing. You [03:55] want to be so in the zone that you are losing track of [03:58] time, that you're totally focused and 100 % in on [04:02] creating something that is wholly uniquely yours. [04:04] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4990842/watch-peak-orionid-meteor-shower-this-weekend/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4990842/watch-peak-orionid-meteor-shower-this-weekend/"},"headline":"The Orionid Meteor Shower Peaks This Weekend. 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