Dark Moon, Shooting Stars: How to Catch the Stunning Leonid Meteor Shower This Weekend
A waning crescent moon will offer stargazers an optimal viewing experience this year, with 10 to 15 meteors visible each hour from Sunday into Monday
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Stargazers, rejoice. The annual Leonid meteor shower, which has been active since last week, will soon hit its peak—and this year’s shower will be especially worth watching, thanks to a nearly moonless night.
Named after the constellation Leo, the Leonid meteor shower occurs when Earth passes through a trail of dust and particles left behind by a comet. In this case, the comet in question is 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, a small comet discovered in the 19th century. The debris from the comet’s trail burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere, creating streaks of vivid light we can observe from Earth’s surface.
Did you know? How Tempel-Tuttle got its name
Though it also goes by the more boring moniker 55P, the Tempel-Tuttle comet got its dual name because it was independently discovered twice—first by Ernst Wilhelm Liebrecht Tempel in December 1865, then by Horace Tuttle in January 1866.The Leonids will peak overnight between November 16 and 17, according to the Planetary Society. The morning of November 18 might be worth catching, too, EarthSky adds. You can expect to see about 10 to 15 meteors an hour if watching under dark skies. They’ll be moving fast, at speeds of around 44 miles per second, making the Leonids one of the fastest annual meteor showers.
The best time to watch the shower is between midnight and dawn. Find a spot with clear skies, make sure to keep warm and give your eyes some time to adjust to the darkness. Then, look up.
Although you might be tempted to look toward the constellation Leo—considered the meteors’ “radiant,” the point in the sky from which they appear to radiate—it’s actually better to look elsewhere. According to the Planetary Society, the viewer’s location means more than that celestial reference point for would-be meteor viewers. “It is often said that an ideal place to look is 45 degrees away from the radiant,” the society writes on its website, “but the most important factor is getting to a dark location away from light pollution, letting your eyes adjust for several minutes and looking at the darkest patch of sky you can.”
A good way to figure out how to avoid light pollution is to consult your local planetarium or astronomy club. You can also examine an online light pollution map to find the ideal spot—or consider visiting a place already known for its dark skies. More than 40 sites within the United States’ National Park System have a dark sky certification, making them perfect places to take in a meteor shower.
Can’t get to a particularly dark spot to make your observations? Thankfully, this year’s moon will only be about 9 percent illuminated when the Leonids peak, so you don’t need to worry about its light disrupting your viewing experience.
While this year’s shower is expected to be a regular one, about every 33 years, the Leonids produce a meteor storm. These are intense meteor showers with more than 1,000 meteors an hour. One of the most memorable Leonid storms happened in 1833, “when tens of thousands lit up the heavens over North America,” per the European Space Agency. The most recent Leonid meteor storm happened in 2002.
If you aren’t able to watch the Leonids—or just can’t get enough stargazing—the next major meteor shower will be one of the best. Considered one of the most reliable and prolific annual meteor showers, the Geminids peak in mid-December. The Ursids, though less spectacular than the Geminids, will also peak next month.
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