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SALT LAKE CITY — The annual Orionid meteor shower peaks early Saturday morning, and if the clouds clear up this afternoon, it should be a good night to see shooting stars.
“We’ve got a good opportunity to see meteors simply because we don’t have a moon in the sky at this time,” said Duke Johnson with Clark Planetarium.
Stargazers can expect to see between 10 and 20 meteors per hour, according to Accuweather.
Skies in the Salt Lake City area were cloudy early Friday afternoon but should be clearing up later Friday night, according to the KSL weather forecast. A cold front moved into the area on Friday, which will push temperatures into the 40s later tonight. Bring extra layers if you’re planning on catching the meteor shower tonight.
Typically, stargazers see more meteors after midnight because the leading edge of the earth’s atmosphere is sweeping out the dust ahead of meteors, making them appear brighter after that time, Johnson said.
Though meteors can be very bright, they still only appear in the sky as the size of a grain of sand, Johnson said. The really bright meteors might be approaching the size of a pea, he said.
“They’re moving so fast that the friction with the atmosphere produces a huge amount of friction and light because of it,” Johnson said.
Meteor showers are hard to predict but usually get better as it gets closer to dawn.
“It’s almost always better in the morning,” Johnson said.
It’s important to get away from light sources in order to have a good view of the meteors, Johnson said.
Here are three great locations to watch the Orionid meteor shower tonight:
Mirror Lake
The High Uintas are a great place for watching the night sky, Johnson said. There are lots of places to pull off along the Mirror Lake Highway that make good places for stargazing.
Plus, there are tons of lakes, Johnson said.
“It’s nice to be by the water,” he said. “You get the reflection and everything else while you’re hanging out watching.”
West Desert
There are many places in Utah’s vast, remote West Desert that are far from city lights. The Bonneville Salt Flats are easily accessed from I-80 and have dark skies. If you’re looking for a West Desert spot even more off the beaten path, the Simpson Springs campground is about an hour southwest of Tooele along the Pony Express Route.
“Those are good places to go where there aren’t as many lights,” Johnson said.
Weber County North Fork Park
This park, just west of the Ogden Nordic Ski Resort, is recognized as an International Dark Sky Park. The park is located at 4150 E. 5950 North in Liberty northeast of Ogden.
“Getting away from streetlights is critical,” Johnson said. “Just getting away from your town wherever that might be.”
