It’s a treat to see a supermoon. But that bright glowing “Beaver Moon” was pretty full when the Leonid meteor shower peaked last weekend, obscuring all but the brightest meteors in most locations.
“Unfortunately this year, the viewing conditions will be affected” by a nearly full moon, said Shyam Balaji of King’s College London. “Watching during the early morning hours, when the moon is lower in the sky, can improve your chances of seeing more meteors.”
The Leonids are known for their high-speed meteors, which can travel at up to 44 miles per second (70 kilometers per second). This meteor shower may result in around 15 visible meteors per hour under ideal viewing conditions.
However, the good news is that the Leonids will still be viewable through December 2, so amateur stargazers can still look up and get a gander at the shower in the night skies for two more weeks.
Here’s what to know about the Leonids and other meteor showers.
What is a Meteor Shower?
Multiple meteor showers occur annually, most originating from the debris of comets. For example, periodic Comet Tempel-Tuttle, officially known as 55P/Temple-Tuttle, is responsible for the Leonid meteor shower. William Tempel of Marseille Observatory in France discovered this comet on the evening of December 19, 1865. He found the comet in the northern sky, located in a part of the sky under the North Star, near the star Beta Ursae Minoris.
When rocks from space enter Earth’s atmosphere, the resistance from the air makes them very hot. This causes the air to glow around them and briefly leaves a fiery tail behind them — the end of a “shooting star.” The glowing pockets of air around fast-moving space rocks, ranging from the size of a dust particle to a boulder, may be visible in the night sky.
Meteors in annual showers get their names from the point in the starry sky from which they appear to radiate. This shower’s name comes from the constellation Leo the Lion, because these meteors radiate outward from the vicinity of stars representing the Lion’s Mane.
The Leonid’s Claim to Fame
As EarthSky reports, the famous Leonid meteor shower produced one of the greatest meteor storms in living memory. Rates were as high as thousands of meteors per minute during a 15-minute span on the morning of November 17, 1966. That night, Leonid meteors did, briefly, fall like rain.
Some who witnessed it had a strong impression of Earth moving through space, fording the meteor stream. Leonid meteor storms sometimes recur in cycles of 33 to 34 years. But the Leonids around the turn of the century – while wonderful for many observers – did not match the shower of 1966. And, in most years, the Lion whimpers rather than roars.
How to view a Meteor Shower
Meteor showers are usually most visible between midnight and predawn hours, and the great news is you don’t need special equipment to see them! It’s easier to see shooting stars under dark skies, away from city lights. Meteor showers also appear brightest on cloudless nights when the moon wanes smallest.
In recent years, people have gotten the mistaken idea that you must know the whereabouts of a meteor shower’s radiant point in order to watch the meteor shower. You don’t need to. The meteors often don’t become visible until they are 30 degrees or so from their radiant point. They are streaking out from the radiant in all directions. Thus, the Leonid meteors – like meteors in all annual showers – will appear in all parts of the sky.
P.S. your eyes will better adapted to seeing meteors if you aren’t checking your phone.
Are there any more Showers Due this Year?
The last full moon of 2024 will be the cold moon on December 15, according to the Farmers’ Almanac.
The Leonids will be seen blazing in the night sky until the shower’s finality on December 2, according to the American Meteor Society (AMS). If you are eager to see more, two upcoming meteor showers peak next month:
Geminids: December 12-13
Ursids: December 21-22
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Photo Credit: marcin jucha / Shutterstock.com