Time for a semi-annual shower -- meteor, that is

Meteor showers are always fun to watch. Tiny specks of cometary debris left by a passing comets come into contact with Earth's atmosphere and incinerate in the heat of the friction caused by its speed.

Tonight (Wednesday, Oct. 21) and into the early morning hours of Thursday residents of Planet Earth will be treated to such a show.

This particular cometary debris was left by our old friend Halley's Comet on one of its previous passes through the inner solar system. Earth passes through this debris stream twice a year. In May the shower is called the Eta Aquarids, and in October the Orionid shower.

It is called such because the meteors seem to radiate from near Orion's raised club on the constellation's upper left side (as we are looking at it).

While the brief streaks of light can appear anywhere in the sky, they seem to come from that specific area.

Meteor shower viewing does, however, require some preparation. Since it is in mid-October the late-night, early morning hours can be quite cold so warm clothing, or a sleeping bag is required. A comfortable way to view can be provided by a reclining lawn chair or a blanket spread on the ground.

Something else that helps are your favorite munchies and a hot drink, like a container full of hot chocolate or coffee helps fend off the cold.

You won't need any visual aids for watching meteors -- unless you want to do some extra-curricular viewing -- just your eyes alone will do. Something else that will help is to bring along a friend, or several of them. The more eyes on the sky the better.

The waxing gibbous moon will set at about 12:30 a.m. MDT and the sky will start to brighten before sunrise at about 5:30 a.m. MDT, so there are four hours of dark to enjoy the Orionids. Normally the hourly rate is about 60 per hour but astronomers are predicting a much lower rate than that for this year's display

However, if you can't watch Orionids, watch for sporadics, those meteors that don't seem to be associated with the shower and can appear from anywhere going to anywhere. We were heading home last week facing west when a bright green streak appeared about mid-sky and fell toward the horizon. So, you never know.

SKY WATCH: Full moon, Tuesday, Oct. 27 (sorry, the full moon is not on Halloween this year, you will need to wait until 2020 for a full moon on Halloween).

The early morning planet dance is still going on. Venus, Jupiter, and Mars are on the move in the early morning eastern sky. Look no later than an hour before local sunrise. On Oct. 25 Jupiter and Venus will have a close meeting with Mars hanging below and by November 2, Venus has dropped down to be near Mars after which both Venus and Mars head for the horizon leaving giant Jupiter alone. In the early evening sky. Ringed-Saturn is all alone in anchoring the evening sky. It is quite low above the southwestern horizon near the head of Scorpius. Don't wait too long to get a telescope on it, because it is going fast.

NEXT WEEK: The Celestial Ocean, and more astronomical blathering.