Orionids and a cold thermos

Orionids: 23 meteors in 2.5 h · limiting mag. 5.9

The Orionids are debris from Halley's comet and they hit the atmosphere head on, at something like 66 km per second. That makes them fast and mostly faint: thin white scratches that are gone before you can turn your head.

I went out at 01:30, when Orion is properly up in the south-east, and stayed until the first grey of dawn. It was four degrees, damp, and my thermos of tea was lukewarm within the hour because I had not warmed the flask first.

Count

Twenty-three Orionids and six sporadic meteors in two and a half hours. Most were magnitude three or fainter. Two left short persistent trains, which the Orionids are supposed to be good at, and I was pleased to actually see one.

Next time: preheat the flask with boiling water, and bring a second hat.