It will be a while before you can see it for yourself, however. Halley’s comet was last visible from Earth in 1986, meaning we won’t have a chance to see it again until 2061. The comet is expected to appear in our skies around mid-June that year, Space.com reports, and remain visible into August.

NASA says the meteor shower is best viewed during the pre-dawn hours, but the sweet spot is between midnight and 2 a.m. Make sure to look to the southeast sky, near the direction of the Orion constellation to help spot the meteors.

The Orionid meteor shower peaks Oct. 21-22 with up to 20 meteors per hour. Comet Lemmon and Comet SWAN R2 may also glow green after sunset, making this a rare skywatch.

October marks the return of the Orionid meteor shower, during which the Earth passes through the trail of debris left behind by Halley’s Comet, the pieces burning up brightly as they enter our atmosphere. It’s one of two annual meteor showers involving the comet (the other is the Eta Aquarids in May).

Lemmon and SWAN — plus a meteor shower are gracing October 2025 skies, weather-permitting. Learn the best times and directions for viewing.

The Orionid meteor shower peaks during a new moon, Comet Lemmon gets closest to Earth and a crescent moon slides past Mercury and Mars.