Attention sky watchers: A meteor shower, active aurora forecast and clear skies will converge over Southcentral Alaska this weekend.
The Orionids meteor shower has been underway since early October. Meteors will peak overnight Friday but will continue until Nov. 14, according to NASA.
Meteors will appear to radiate from the direction of the constellation Orion, which rises from the southwest part of the sky. They will be visible across the entire sky, wrote Travis Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage astronomy professor.
The Orionids originate from the debris of Halley's Comet and are known for being both quick and bright, streaking across the sky at 41 miles per second, NASA writes.
The best hours to watch the show are between midnight and sunrise, Rector wrote. The third-quarter moon will be near Orion, creating some light pollution, but Sky and Telescope recommends facing away from the moon (and cozying up with some tea, a sleeping bag and reclining chair) for optimal viewing.
"Clear skies permitting it will be worth going out to watch!" Rector wrote.
Meanwhile, chances to see the aurora are looking good this weekend, according to the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute's aurora forecast.
Friday night has "low" aurora levels, but on Saturday night, the forecast is listed as "active," and on Sunday, it bumps up to "high" aurora levels.
Friday's cloudy skies will also clear up. Clear and mostly clear skies are forecast on both Saturday and Sunday night throughout Southcentral Alaska, from Talkeetna down to Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula. Other areas — the Interior, Western, Arctic, Southeast and Southwest portions of the state — won't have the same luck, according to the National Weather Service.