Orionid, Taurid Meteors Haunt October Skies
Halley's Comet last swung through our skies in 1986 and won't be back until 2061, but we're still picking up its discarded dust every October. That's the detail I can't stop thinking about. The Orionid meteors you might catch this month are literally crumbs from a world-famous visitor that most of us will never see twice in a lifetime. Meanwhile the Taurids, slower and chunkier, tend to produce dramatic fireballs, and they come from Comet Encke, which orbits the sun more often than any other known comet. So the sky is serving two very different moods at once: swift streaks and long, lazy burners.
I like that these showers arrive just as Halloween approaches. Our ancestors watched the same lights fall and built stories around them, ghosts and omens woven into the darkening evenings. We can step outside and share that moment, even if our explanations have changed. I'd want to know more about why the Taurids seem to cluster in cycles, some years richer than others, but for now I'll take the show as it comes.