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Orionids Meteor Shower - October 21, 2025

Plot

Orionids Meteor Shower - October 2025 SVG / PNG

How to See It

  • 📅 When: October 21, 2025 at midnight
  • 🌎 Where (on Earth): Visible from Northern and Southern Hemispheres
  • 👀 Where (in the sky): Look east
  • 🔭 What you need: just your eyes!
  • Meteors most visible between Gemini and Orion constellations (circled in red above)
  • Meteors should be visible a few days before and after the peak too
  • Expect to see at least one meteor every 3 minutes (especially in dark skies)


Every October, the Orionid meteor shower is visible in the night sky. This year it peaks around October 21, and although you'll have to stay up a little late (just past midnight), it should be a great year to watch it because it peaks during a new moon.

The Orionids are named after the constellation Orion, because that's where the meteors appear to radiate from. Luckily, Orion also happens to be one of the easiest constellations to find!

On average, you'll see 20 meteors per hour (about one every 3 minutes), but the Orionids have also been known to produce up to 80 meteors per hour.

The meteors of the Orionids are fragments of Halley’s Comet, a famous comet that orbits the Sun roughly every 76 years. As Earth crosses the debris trail left behind by Halley, tiny pieces of ice and rock burn up in our atmosphere, creating the bright streaks we see in the sky.

Also Check Out

Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon)

If you have binoculars, this is also a great time to check out The Great Orion Nebula (the green box labeled "M42" in the plot above). And if you have a telescope, the M35 star cluster is a beautiful sight!

Source Code

Python 3.12 Starplot 0.16.5 
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from datetime import datetime
from zoneinfo import ZoneInfo

from starplot import (
    HorizonPlot,
    PlotStyle,
    style_extensions,
    DSO,
    Constellation,
    Observer,
    _,
)

style = PlotStyle().extend(
    style_extensions.BLUE_NIGHT,
    style_extensions.MAP,
    style_extensions.GRADIENT_ASTRONOMICAL_TWILIGHT,
)

tz = ZoneInfo("US/Pacific")
dt = datetime(2025, 10, 21, 0, 0, 0, 0, tzinfo=tz)

observer = Observer(
    dt=dt,
    lat=33.363484,
    lon=-116.836394,
)

ori = Constellation.get(iau_id="ori")
gem = Constellation.get(iau_id="gem")

p = HorizonPlot(
    altitude=(0, 50),
    azimuth=(40, 135),
    observer=observer,
    style=style,
    resolution=3200,
    scale=1.2,
)
p.constellations(
    where=[_.iau_id.isin(["ori", "gem"])], style__alpha=0.5, style__width=2.1
)
p.stars(
    where=[_.hip.isin(ori.star_hip_ids + gem.star_hip_ids)],
    where_labels=[_.magnitude < 1.6],
)
p.open_clusters(
    where=[_.m.isin(["35", "42"])], true_size=False, label_fn=lambda d: f"M{d.m}"
)
p.nebula(where=[_.m.isin(["35", "42"])], true_size=False, label_fn=lambda d: f"M{d.m}")

p.circle(
    center=(6.3222 * 15, 16.2454),
    radius_degrees=4,
    style=dict(
        fill_color=None,
        edge_color="red",
        line_style=[1, [2, 3]],
        edge_width=3,
        zorder=-1000,
    ),
)
p.text(
    ra=6.62 * 15,
    dec=13.193,
    text="Meteors!",
    style__font_color="red",
    style__font_size=28,
    hide_on_collision=False,
)

p.constellation_labels()
p.horizon(labels={90: "Looking East"}, style__label__offset_y=100)

p.export("plot.svg", padding=0.25, format="svg")