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Oct. 21 Star Party to view meteors, planets

The public is invited to drop by the Ohio Northern University Observatory, 800 W. Lincoln Ave., between 8:00-10:00 p.m. on Friday, October 21, for the third public astronomy event at ONU Observatory for Fall 2022.

This event is scheduled to coincide with the peak of the Orionid Meteor Shower.  This is a popular annual meteor shower that emanates from the constellation Orion. 

Meteors (or "falling stars") are bright streaks in the sky caused by small particles speeding through our atmosphere. The Orionid meteor particles originated in Halley's comet. The Orionids are generally faster and brighter than average. The rate of meteors will be greater after midnight when Orion rises, so we will likely only see about 10/hour.

The observatory will also train its telescopes on planets (Jupiter and Saturn) and deep sky objects.

The forecast (as of 10/19) is calling for only 10% cloud cover on Friday and 57 F. If the forecast changes for the worse, a cancellation message will appear Friday afternoon here:

https://jpastro.net/astro/publicevents.html

Maps to the ONU Observatory can be found here: https://jpastro.net/astro/ONUObservatory.html