The Leonids Meteor Shower Will Peak This Weekend

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.  

The Alpha Monocerotids are expected to briefly light up the sky November 21st, 2019 at 11:50 PM EST with a meteor outburst or storm.