Although barely detectable near the start and end of the shower, meteors from Leonids will begin to be seen on November 13 and continue streaking the sky through the 20th. This meteor shower always occurs in November, but is especially brilliant every 33 years, when a periodic meteor storm takes place, with thousands of meteors illuminating the night sky every hour. The next 33-year storm peak will occur around 2032.
Leonids is best viewed after midnight, once the moon sets, from the direction of the constellation Leo. The visibility and number of meteors usually peak just before dawn.
What Causes Leonids Meteor Shower?
A meteor shower occurs when a collection of meteoroids, the trailing debris of a traveling comet, appear to stream out of a specific area of the night sky, at a point that astronomers call “the radiant”. The streaks of light, sometimes individually referred to as shooting stars, are caused when the Earth passes through the comet’s debris field and the debris burns up upon entering the Earth’s atmosphere.
As the meteoroids enter the atmosphere, at thousands of miles an hour, they ignite from the friction, 30 to 80 miles above the ground. Most meteoroids are completely incinerated in the process. Very rarely does a meteoroid make it to the ground. The few that do are known as meteorites.
Leonids meteor shower results from the debris field of the comet Tempel-Tuttle. The shower gets its name from its location in the night sky, because it appears to radiate out of the constellation Leo.
History of the Leonids Meteor Shower
Although visual accounts document Leonids as far back in history as the late 1700’s, in 1833 the shower was remarkably intense, a meteor storm which received a great deal of scientific and popular attention, with reactions ranging from the fascination of astronomers to doomsday hysteria of the superstitious.
Yale professor of mathematics and natural philosophy, Denison Olmstead guaranteed his place in the annals of astronomy by observing, recording and writing a paper about that 1833 meteor storm, said to be so spectacular that the sky seemed to rain fire.
How to Best View the Leonids Meteor Shower
The best place to view a meteor shower is in a rural location, away from the glow of city lights and in the direction of the constellation from which the shower appears to radiate, in this case Leo, which rises in the north. The sky will be dark enough to view the shower if you can easily see stars. Once you find a safe, secluded spot to view the shower, face the direction that the shower will come from, lie back and enjoy.
For an annual listing of meteor showers , see the Skyscrapers, Inc. website, or EarthSkys Meteor Shower Guide for 2010.
Additional Sources
Littmann, M (1999). The Heavens on Fire: The Great Leonid Meteor Storms. Cambridge University Press.
Stardate Magazine's website page on meteor showers.
Tami Port - Tami Port is a college professor of cell and microbiology and creator of ScienceProfOnline.com, a free science education website.
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