I’m retired descriptive essay on a friend The more famous shower this month is the Orionid meteor shower, caused by Halley’s Comet. The Eta Aquarid shower on May 4 is also caused by this famous comet. The Orionids will be partly washed out by the moon, since their peak on the 21st is only three days after the full moon. If it is clear that night, it will still be worth it to see and appreciate these tiny, sand grain-sized pieces of Halley’s Comet streaking into our upper atmosphere at 40 miles per second.