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The Leonid Meteor Shower

© Sonya Thomas-Haley

The Perseid meteor shower usually gets all the publicity, but don't overlook the Leonids. This year promises an excellent show with a good possibility for 100 meteors per hour. The moon will be out of the way and the peak is on a weekend, so the only thing that might stop you is the cold night air.

Well, bundle up, pull out the sleeping bag and some blankets and a thermos of coffee or hot chocolate and get out there. Bring along binoculars while you're at it to look at the meteor trails. The peak will occur in the early morning hours of November 18, but it is also worthwhile to go out a couple nights before or a couple nights after. You might still see as many as 25 an hour.

Back in 1999 the Leonids produced a meteor storm -- a rare and fantastic event. Such things are difficult to predict, but experts think there's a good chance for another one this year. If there is a storm, it will most likely occur at around 5 a.m. EST in North America and could reach as many as 1,000 per hour.

People in Asia have the chance to see an even greater storm of possibly 2,000 or more an hour. This might occur at around 2:30 am in Japan on the morning of November 19.

Meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through a trail of debris left behind by a comet, in this case, the comet Tempel-Tuttle. The best time to view any meteor shower is between midnight and dawn because then we're traveling more "head-on" into the debris and the Earth's rotational motion is added to the orbital motion so the meteors crash into the atmosphere faster and are therefore brighter. They travel nearly 100,000 mph, and the trail of light they leave is the result of ionization of atmospheric gases.

Though early morning is the best, you can still see meteors in the early evening. You just won't see as many. Either way, get as far away from big-city lights as you can.

Meteor showers are named for the constellation in which the radiant is located. In this case, it is Leo. This is the point from which the meteor trails will appear to radiate. As you're setting up your lawn chair and laying out your sleeping bag and wondering which direction to orient yourself, I would recommend anywhere but towards Leo -- meteor trails will be shorter there. You can't be looking everywhere all the time (I've tried, and it just gives you a headache and makes you go cross-eyed) so just stake out a section of sky, lay back, and be patient. If you're out with friends or family, you can each pick a different section and have an informal competition to see who spots the most. It'll help keep you all awake because it's sooooo easy to doze in a comfy sleeping bag -- and it's soooo aggravating to hear someone shout "Wow!" and open your eyes and realize you missed a fireball.

The copyright of the article The Leonid Meteor Shower in Amateur Astronomy is owned by Sonya Thomas-Haley. Permission to republish The Leonid Meteor Shower in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.