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https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2116355/clear-skies-and-cooler-temperatures-greet-hong Health & Environment
Clear skies and cooler temperatures to greet Hong Kong stargazers for Orionids meteor shower
Best places to watch light show include Shek Pik on Lantau Island, Cape D’Aguilar in Shek O and the Space Museum in Tsim Sha Tsui
The Orionid meteor shower is best viewed between 10.30pm on Saturday and 5.30am on Sunday. Photo: Shutterstock Images
Astronomy enthusiasts are likely to have a clear night sky to view the Orionids meteor shower on Saturday, but may have to brave cooler temperatures.
The celestial spectacle will be best viewed between 10.30pm on Saturday and 5.30am on Sunday. In an ideal environment, with low light pollution, observers will be able to see up to 20 meteors an hour.
“It is expected to be mainly fine [during the viewing period],” Observatory scientific officer Chan Yan-chun said. “It is not expected to rain. But it will be relatively cool during the night and morning. The sky will be clear and suitable for observing.”
The temperature is forecast to drop as low as 21 degrees Celsius on Sunday, and will further drop to a minimum 20 degrees on Monday.
Chan said the cool weather would be brought by a dry northeast monsoon.
It is not expected to get warmer until Wednesday, when the temperature will pick up slightly to a minimum of 23 degrees.
According to the Observatory, stargazing hotspots include Shek Pik on Lantau Island, Cape D’Aguilar in Shek O, Sai Kung, Tuen Mun and the Space Museum in Tsim Sha Tsui.
But the scale of the shower does not compare with the Perseids meteor shower in August, which had an hourly rate of 150 meteors, or the Quadrantids shower in January, which had an hourly rate of 120 meteors.
On December 14, there will be another large meteor shower from the Geminids, expected to have an hourly rate of 120 meteors.