Skygazers won't want to miss tonight's show as up to 25 shooting stars per hour are set to light up the night sky, thanks to the Orionid meteor shower.
Over the coming days the meteor shower will be visible prior to the break of dawn, made up of fragments left behind by the famous Halley's Comet.
Known as the Orionid meteor shower, it peaks during the third week of October and they are scheduled to reach their maximum this weekend, with the best show happening before sunrise on Sunday morning (October 22).
So here is everything you need to know about the Orionid meteor shower to give yourself the best chance to see it in person.
Orion is a winter constellation according to Space.com, which states that it will be high in the sky towards the south-southeast between 4 and 5AM on Sunday.
The moon is also not set to pose too much of an obstacle to seeing the meteors as it will be at first quarter (half) phase, setting around 11.30PM on Saturday night, meaning it won't hinder views in the early hours of Sunday.
The Orionids are visible between October 16-26, reaching their peak on Sunday morning, with the best time to catch them on any given night being from 1 or 2AM until dawn breaks just before 6AM.
The Orionids are one of a few known meteor showers that can be seen equally as well from both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, but for the best chance to catch a glimpse - as these shooting stars tend to be quite dim - stargazers will want to be in as rural a location as possible to avoid light pollution ruining their visibility.
David Levy and Stephen Edberg explained in Observe: Meteors, an Astronomical League manual via Space.com: "They are easily identified ... from their speed. At 66 kilometers (41 miles) per second, they appear as fast streaks, faster by a hair than their sisters, the Eta Aquarids of May. And like the Eta Aquarids, the brightest family members tend to leave long-lasting trains. Fireballs are possible three days after maximum."
The Orionids originate from Halley's Comet. All comets are leftovers from the early days of the universe and are made up of the remnants of simple gases such as methane, ammonia, carbon dioxide, and water vapor which were left over from when the sun and planets in our solar system came into being in their current form.
All comets eventually disintegrate into meteoroids, which Halley's Comet is currently in the process of doing, and it is when these minuscule particles - which range in size from grains of sand to specks of dust - collide with the Earth's atmosphere and the friction raises them to white heat that we can see them in the sky as shooting stars.
While they may not be the brightest of shooting stars, the Orionid meteor shower can be seen with the naked eye - as long as there is no light pollution affecting the view - so you won't need any special equipment such as a telescope or binoculars to see them as long as you give your eyes around half an hour to adjust to looking at the darkness.
NASA says: "The Orionids, which peak during mid-October each year, are considered to be one of the most beautiful showers of the year.
"Orionid meteors are known for their brightness and for their speed. These meteors are fast – they travel at about 148,000 miles per hour (66 km/s) into Earth's atmosphere.
"Fast meteors can leave glowing "trains" (incandescent bits of debris in the wake of the meteor) which last for several seconds to minutes.
"Fast meteors can also sometimes become fireballs; look for prolonged explosions of light when viewing the Orionid Meteor Shower."
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