Shooting stars will light up the sky Sunday. How and when to see Leonid meteor shower
A meteor shower known for its brightness is expected to peak over the weekend.
The Leonids, which are active each year during the month of November, are expected to peak this year on the night of Nov. 17 and the morning of Nov. 18, according to EarthSky.
The best time to see the meteors is around 3 a.m., but the moon will be bright this year and may make it hard to see the meteors, according to Space.com. At the peak, viewers can expect to see about 10 to 15 meteors per hour, NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke told Space.com.
EarthSky suggested that, to combat the moon’s brightness, observers should try looking at the meteor shower “in a shadow of a large structure (like a barn), or in a mountain shadow, just to try to keep the moon out of view.”
The meteor shower happens “when the Earth passes through debris left by Comet Tempel-Tuttle,” according to timeanddate.com.
The Leonids are “often bright meteors with a high percentage of persistent trains,” according to the American Meteor Society.
In the past, the Leonids have produced “meteor storms,” with the most recent occurrence in 2001 and the next one expected around 2099, the American Meteor Society said. A meteor storm is any time there are at least 1,000 meteors per hour, according to USA Today.
You don’t need any special equipment to see the meteor shower; all you need to do is find a place to watch the meteors that’s away from city lights, according to timeanddate.com. Lie down and look up at the sky.
Another astronomical phenomena could occur Nov. 21, when more than 400 meteors could streak across the sky as part of the Alpha Monocerotid shower, according to the Charlotte Observer.
The Leonids will be active until Nov. 30, and the next meteor shower, the Geminids, will be active from Dec. 4 through Dec. 17, according to the American Meteor Society.
This story was originally published November 14, 2019 at 11:45 AM.
