The Leonids Meteor Shower Will Peak Sometime After Midnight Near The Constellation Leo
The weather is looking close to good enough to see this show but we have a nasty storm headed this way. The Leonids meteor shower will peak this weekend, November 16- 17th. Usually producing 10-20 meteors/hour. The moon is waning gibbous and will be a bit of an issue, just don’t look towards it so you don’t blind your night vision. Moonset is not until 10:30 AM and will be highest in night sky at midnight.
The Leonids have produced some of the most impressive shows in history. Meteor storms have been observed during the Leonids ( about every 33 years). A meteor storm “sprays” shooting stars at a rate of hundreds or thousands an hour and lights up the sky. This can last very briefly or for hours. It occurs when earth passes through a concentration of debris left from the path of Comet Tempel-Tuttle. The Leonids last peaked (stormed) in 1999, with bonus peaks in 2001 and 2002.