Orionid Meteor Shower peaks early next week, two comets also visible

Stargazers and astronomy buffs are going to love the next week.

The Orionid Meteor Shower will peak Monday evening, with two comets: Lemmon, and SWAN, also visible in the early evening sky.

The new moon will keep skies dark, leading to excellent viewing - and the dry, cold air in place will lead to good seeing with less distortion in your view with a pair of binoculars.

Meteor showers get their names based on the constellation they appear to originate from. So, the Orionids come from the constellation Orion. They occur as the earth races through a trail of rock and dust produced by 1P/Halley's Comet.

The Orionids are best viewed from 2:00 AM - 6:00 AM. They rise in the eastern sky through the southeast and will be high in the southern sky by 6 AM.

You can expect to see 10-20 meteors p