Leonid meteor shower peaks: how to see it
The annual Leonids meteor shower peaks late Friday night.
According to NASA, the Leonids are fragments of comet Tempel-Tuttle when it passes close to the sun.
When bits of cometary debris enter Earth’s atmosphere and burn up, they leave bright streaks in the night sky.
Observers can watch the downpour directly overhead, with bright meteors leaving a trail that lasts for a few seconds.
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A 1999 Leonid meteor outburst as seen at 38,000 feet from Leonid Multi Instrument Aircraft Campaign (Leonid MAC) with 50mm camera.
(Image credit: NASA/Ames Research Center/ISAS/Shinsuke Abe and Hajime Yano)
However, the moon is about 35% full and will reduce the fainter meteors.
There will be about 15 to 20 meteors per hour under clear, dark skies.
At 1:45 AM MT on Nov. 17, NASA’s all sky camera at New Mexico State University captured this image of a Leonid meteor streaking across the sky.
(NASA)
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The name of the shower comes from the constellation Leo, the lion, from which the meteors seem to radiate.
More than 100 meteors are captured in this composite image taken during the peak of the Geminid meteor shower in 2014.
(Credit: NASA/MSFC/Danielle Moser, NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office)
While the moon will rise in the east with Leo around midnight local time, it is better to view the sky away from the apparent starting point by leaning back and looking straight up.
Comet Tempel-Tuttle has actually been discovered independently twice.
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In December, skywatchers can anticipating the Geminids and Ursids.
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