Stargazers in Taiwan will have a chance to catch the Orionid meteor shower when it reaches its peak today, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said yesterday.
While there is likely to be interference due to moonlight, people can expect to see more than 20 shooting stars per hour tonight, if the weather permits, according to the museum.
The Orionids, which peak annually around mid-October, occur when the Earth encounters debris from Halley’s Comet. They are known to be fast meteors and can sometimes become fireballs — brighter-than-usual meteors — that can even parallel the brightness of Venus, the museum said.
Fireballs also occasionally produce glowing “trains,” a trail of incandescent pieces of debris in the wake of the meteor that can last up to several minutes.
The museum said these meteor trains are worth observing, as they gradually change shape, due to wind, before dissipating.
Another distinguishing feature of the Orionids, the museum said, is that the peak period lasts several days, so stargazers will be able to see meteor showers for a few nights after today.
The museum suggested that stargazers go to areas where there is relatively little light to increase their chances of seeing as many meteors as possible. The best viewing times are between 9pm and 12am, according to the museum.
It also plans to livestream the meteor shower on its Web site from a location on Fushoushan Farm (福壽山農場) in Taichung.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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