Get ready for a month of meteor showers as we pass through the tail of a comet

Your star-gazing calendar for October is in, and it's going to be a good month.

Right now, Earth is passing through the tail of debris left behind by Halley's Comet, which sounds scary, but it's actually awesome, because it brings us the spectacular Orionid meteor shower from now, all the way up until November 7.

The shower will hit its peak on the morning of October 21, when you can expect to see up to 20 meteors an hour burning up in Earth's atmosphere — but due to a bright Moon during that time, your best chance to see the show is at pre-dawn, from now until October 15, according to Earth Sky.

Each year, Earth passes through the tail of Halley's Comet twice — back in May we travelled through the debris, causing the Eta Aquarids shower.

To see some meteors this month, you need to get up early and head out before the Sun rises.

As the name suggests, the meteors will look like they're originating from the Orion constellation in our night sky, but you should be able to see them no matter where you're looking — just keep your eyes peeled, and make sure you find somewhere dark about 20 minutes before you start watching the skies, so your eyes can adjust. 

Check out a nebula in the night sky

If meteor showers aren't exciting enough for you, don't worry, there's plenty of other cool stuff happening in October. For those in the southern hemisphere, you'll even have the chance to see a nebula — the birthplace of stars — with your own eyes. 

Throughout this month, the Tarantula Nebula (pictured below) will be visible right near the Large and Small Magellanic clouds (LMC) — the biggest and brightest neighbouring galaxies visible from the southern hemisphere. 

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