Orionids Meteor Shower this week

One of the very special annual meteor showers, the Orionids, peaks this week.

This meteor shower appears near the constellation of Orion (hence the name) and are caused as the Earth flys through the debris from Halleys Comet* as we orbit the Sun.

Where to see the Orionids from Sydney a bit after midnight into the early morning on the 21st of October 2025. They will be in the north-east to eastern sky, just below the familiar constellation of Orion. 

Meteor showers are best seen away from city lights. You might see some from the city or suburbs, but this is an event that is worth heading into a dark sky area with a clear view to the east and northeast. You don’t need any special telescope gear or even binoculars, just a comfortable spot to observe from. We are also lucky as the Orionids this year occur close to a new Moon, meaning they sky will be extra dark. 

It’s impossible to predict how many you’ll see. You might see around 20 meteors an hour with a possibility of many more being spotted. With any luck you might even get to see an occasional brighter fireball. Take your time and enjoy!

Ring system confirmed around Charon

Also becomes the first comet known to have rings!

Illustration of the ring system around the asteroid, Charon. Image via UTFPR/Alexandre Crispim

The ringed planet Saturn is shining brightly in the sky at the moment, and many folks would know all “giant” planets in the Solar System, including Jupiter, have ring systems.  There’s also rings around minor planets and there’s even suggestions that the Earth might have had a rings system around it for tens of millions of years, some 450 million years ago. Mars is likely to score its own ring system in about 50 million years when its moon, Phobos, breaks up as it wanders too close to the red planet. There’s also active research trying to identify rings around exoplanets orbiting other stars.

How rings form around a body is a complex topic.  Ways that rings form vary greatly but include forming from the same disk the planets formed from, collisions, tidal stresses, and smaller bodies being disturbed by encounters with larger planets. 

Astronomers have confirmed the existence of a ring system around Chiron, a Centaur class object orbiting between Saturn and Uranus. This has characteristics of both a comet and a minor planet and has a “comet ” name of 95P/Chiron along with a minor planet name of 2060 Chiron. Discovered in 1977, it’s now the only comet known to have a ring system.

(Some reports have also confused Chiron with Charon which is a moon of Pluto.)

In a study published this week researchers suggested that the ring system around Chiron might be the result of an outburst from the comet, a collision with another small body or even a satellite of Chiron that was torn apart by tidal forces during its orbit. 

What’s more, changes have been observed in Chiron’s rings, suggesting they’re evolving in real time. Lead author of the study, Chrystian Luciano Pereira, commented:

“This provides a rare glimpse into how such structures originate and change.”

“This diversity reminds us that ring formation is not exclusive to large planets. It’s a universal process that can occur wherever the right physical conditions exist,” Pereira said.

As always, it’s worth mentioning that while Chiron and its rings are not objects for amateur telescopes, it’s fascinating to learn about what’s going on above our heads!

SpaceX Starship 11 Test Flight a success

The “Block 2” version of the largest rocket ever launched makes its final flight. 

Image via SpaceX

At the beginning of the week, SpaceX launched the 11th test flight of their massive Starship rocket. Unlike many previous missions, this one was a success with no RAD (Rapid Unplanned Disassembly) or explosions to use SpaceX parlance. 

A number of heat tiles were removed to induce stress on the vehicles and both Starship itself and the booster splashed down it the ocean. No attempt to land back at the launchpad was planned. 

This was the last flight of this version of Starship, with the slightly larger “Block 3” due to fly next year. 

More via SpaceX here.

Cheers,

Earl White

BINTEL

18th October 2025

*For those of us who were around to see Halleys Comet in 1986, we’re now closer to its next appearance, which is in 2061, than we are to 1986…..