The Leonid meteor shower will peak on the evening of November 17, providing star gazers with a potentially-dazzling display of shooting stars. This annual meteor storm has produced some of the most stunning shows of shooting stars ever witnessed in modern times.
Amateur astronomers can view this event by heading outside, under dark skies, and looking to the east. The shooting stars will appear to radiate from the constellation of Leo the Lion. No special equipment is needed, apart from a comfortable place to sit. Observers should remember to bring drinks and snacks for the observation session.
Shooting stars will first be seen rising above the eastern horizon, starting at around 9 p.m., local time. The moon will not be up at that time, giving amateur astronomers a chance to see additional meteors under dark skies. The greatest number of meteors will be seen just before sunrise, at which time the center of the display will have moved to the south. By then, however, the Moon will have risen, slightly detracting from the celestial show.
Meteor showers are caused when the Earth, orbiting around the Sun, collides with debris left behind by comets. The annual Leonid showers are displays of small pieces of Comet Tempel-Tuttle.
In November 1833, the Leonid shower was dazzling, as the storm produced hundreds of thousands of shooting stars every hours. The display was seen by people around the world, including Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, who saw it as a sure sign of the coming of the Messiah. The event was also noted by famous abolitionists such as Fredrick Douglas and Harriet Tubman, as well as Native American cultures.
For 15 minutes during the morning of November 17, 1966, the Leonid meteor shower resulted in thousands of shooting stars each minute. Other years are much more modest, producing as few as 10 or 15 meteors every hour, a rate likely to be seen this year.
Radar images were taken in 1965, when the Leonid shower was light, as well as the following year, during the dramatic display. Researchers discovered the 1966 event involved a greater number of smaller particles than the previous year.
"Leonids may be seen from the southern hemisphere but the viewing conditions are not quite as favorable as those north of the equator. With an entry velocity of [156,600 MPH], most activity from this radiant would be of swift speed with numerous persistent trains on the brighter meteors," Robert Lunsford of the American Meteor Society reports.
Leonids could once again produce 1,000 or more meteors every hour in the year 2034, although those predictions are still uncertain.
