{"id":18304,"date":"2018-10-20T19:46:05","date_gmt":"2018-10-20T11:46:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/the-moon-and-meteors-light-up-the-night\/"},"modified":"2018-10-20T19:46:05","modified_gmt":"2018-10-20T11:46:05","slug":"the-moon-and-meteors-light-up-the-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/the-moon-and-meteors-light-up-the-night\/","title":{"rendered":"The moon and meteors light up the night"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_456557\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-456557\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-456557\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/181020-orionid-630x471.jpg\" alt=\"Orionid meteor\" width=\"630\" height=\"471\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/181020-orionid-630x471.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/181020-orionid.jpg 638w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-456557\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An Orionid meteor flashes in a 2015 image captured by Marshall Space Flight Center\u2019s all-sky camera in Alabama. (NASA \/ MSFC Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Saturday night\u2019s all right \u2026 for skywatching: Tonight\u2019s mostly clear skies over Western Washington should provide a good opportunity to see the peak of the Orionid meteor shower, and a great opportunity to check out the nearly full moon on International Observe the Moon Night.<\/p>\n<p>The moon is sure to one-up the meteors: With the full phase just a few days away, it\u2019ll be in the sky nearly all night, washing out most of the Orionids\u2019 fainter flashes. Nevertheless, the weekend timing and the sky cover forecast&nbsp;could make it worth your while to get out of town and see the show.<\/p>\n<p>Clear, dark skies will help you maximize your meteor-viewing experience. The skies tend to be clearer and darker when you get away from city lights as well as the foggy conditions that are expected to develop in the central Puget Sound area.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"What's Up for October 2018\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1Spk76nUzF0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The Orionids build up to a peak every year around Oct. 20-21 when Earth swings through a trail of cosmic grit left behind by Halley\u2019s Comet. The meteor count can rise to 50 meteor sightings per hour, but this year\u2019s show isn\u2019t expected to be that prolific. The forecast calls for 15 to 20 sightings under optimal viewing conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Although the Orionids seem to originate from a point in the constellation Orion, they can flash in any location in the sky, so keep your field of view as wide as possible.&nbsp;To minimize the moon\u2019s glare, try to find a viewing spot where buildings, trees or mountains block out the moon in western skies during the optimal post-midnight hours.<\/p>\n<p>We have a top-five list of meteor-viewing locations in Western Washington, and because of this weekend\u2019s temperature inversion, the chances of clearer skies are better at higher elevations. For more general meteor-watching tips, check out our guide to August\u2019s Perseid meteor shower.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/embed?mid=1tZFNCTvS8QAnbwCGDAuA9T6uEP4\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Tonight also brings the annual outreach opportunity for watching the moon: International Observe the Moon Night. NASA schedules the occasion for when the moon is not quite full, so that a close look reveals the shadows and the terminator line between light and dark on the lunar surface.<\/p>\n<p>Hundreds of events are on the schedule, including a smattering in Western Washington. For example, the Whatcom Association of Celestial Observers is planning a party at Bellingham\u2019s Boulevard Park, starting at 6:30 p.m. Bring your binoculars or your telescope \u2014 plus something warm to wear when the sun goes down.<\/p>\n<p>If you totally miss out on the Geminids, there\u2019s always the next meteor shower to look forward to: The Leonids hit their peak on Nov. 17-18, followed by the Geminids on Dec. 13-14, and the moon won\u2019t be so much in the way for either of those showers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An Orionid meteor flashes in a 2015 image captured by Marshall Space Flight Center\u2019s all-sky camera in Alabama. (NASA \/ MSFC Photo) Saturday night\u2019s all right \u2026 for skywatching: Tonight\u2019s mostly clear skies over Western Washington should provide a good opportunity to see the peak of the Orionid meteor shower, and a great opportunity to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4919,4599,625,5138,4378],"class_list":["post-18304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-meteor-showers","tag-meteors","tag-moon","tag-orionids","tag-skywatching"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18304"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18304\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}