Stargazers are set to be treated to a stunning astronomical display as the Orionid Meteor Shower peaks throughout tonight and the early hours of tomorrow.
The meteor shower has been happening all month but will climax this evening, providing people with the perfect opportunity to see a shooting star.
Weather permitting, there can be up to 20 meteors per hour during the peak, meaning there’s a very good chance you’ll get to see one yourself, reports the Mirror.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Orionid Meteor Shower, including the Mirror's top tips for seeing them from the UK.
When is the Orionid Meteor Shower?
The meteor shower started on October 2 and will continue until November 7 this year. However, the peak will be on the evening of October 21, when there’s estimated to be up to 20 meteors per hour!
What time is best to watch?
The meteors are most visible in a dark sky, so make sure you look up from around 9pm.
If you can stay awake, the shower will peak in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
What is the Orionid meteor shower?
The pieces of space debris that interact with our atmosphere to create the Orionids originate from comet 1P/Halley.
Each time Halley returns to the inner solar system, its nucleus sheds ice and rocky dust into space.
The dust grains eventually become the Orionids in October and the Eta Aquarids in May if they collide with Earth's atmosphere.
How to watch the Orionid meteor shower
The Orionids are viewable in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres during the hours after midnight.
Find an area well away from city or street lights. Go prepared with a sleeping bag, blanket or lawn chair.
Lie flat on your back with your feet facing southeast if you are in the Northern Hemisphere or northeast if you are in the Southern Hemisphere, and look up, taking in as much of the sky as possible.
In less than 30 minutes in the dark, your eyes will adapt and you will begin to see meteors.
Be patient - the show will last until dawn, so you have plenty of time to catch a glimpse.
When is the next meteor shower?
If you don't manage to catch a glimpse of the meteor shower tonight, thankfully there's not long until the next shower - the Taurids Meteor Shower will peak on November 5.
With around 5-10 meteors per hour, the Taurids aren't quite as active as the Orionids.
However, the Taurids are unique in that they're made up of two separate streams. The first is produced by dust grains left behind by asteroid 2004 TG10, while the second is produced by debris left by Comet 2P Encke.
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