alter your Saturday Nox plans ! The Leonid shooting star shower is go to top out this weekend so be quick to find a dark spot off from city light to revel this stellar spectacle .
The Leonids is considered one of the most prolific meteor showers for historical reasons . The general public ’s interest in meteors is in reality due to these meteors . In 1833 , the Leonids underwent a spectacular outburst with over 200,000 meteors per hour for almost four hours . This year , alas , wo n’t be like that . Astronomers expect up to 15 meteors per time of day to be visible to observers .
The Leonid shower originate from fragments of the comet 55P / Tempel - Tuttle , which revolve the Sun every 33 days . Its last close handing over to our planet was in 1998 , so the Earth ’s area is currently within the least dull part of the comet ’s trail of particles .
The name of these meteors , Leonids , comes from the constellation of Leo ( the lion ) , where they appear to grow from , but you do n’t need to find the constellation to be able-bodied to spot them . Wherever you look in the sky , you should be capable to see some . The longer - tailed ones will actually be more visible in other direction .
But if you want to be prepared , the good time is from 11 pm onwards on Saturday , November 17 , in an easterly direction . The shower will be seeable from both hemisphere starting in the northeast and impress towards the southeast and the zenith ( the highest point in the sky ) as the dark progresses . In the US , the viewwill be bestfrom the western and southeasterly part of the country .
When going meteoroid hunt it is important to take your time and let your eyes align to the low luminosity . So gather your earpiece in your sac and give yourself 15 - 20 minute to get used to the wickedness . And remember that this year the shower bath is not an outburst , so you ’ll have to be patient . Maybe bring in a comfy bivouac professorship . And blanket if you ’re somewhere that ’s going to get cold .
And if this weekend is not full weatherwise , think of that you could proceed to catch up with the shooting star rain shower until the death of November . Or be patient and devise for the Geminids next calendar month .
