In 2023, the well-known Leonid meteor bathe shall be freed from moonlight on the bathe’s peak morning, November 18. You may also attempt watching on the morning of November 17.
Mid-November meteors … the Leonids
Predicted peak: is predicted** for November 18, 2023, at 5:33 UTC.
When to look at: Watch late on the evening of November 17 till daybreak on November 18. The morning of November 17 is likely to be worthwhile, too.
Period of bathe: November 3 via December 2.
Radiant: Rises round midnight, highest within the sky at daybreak.
Nearest moon phase: In 2023, first quarter moon falls on November 20. So there’ll little or no interference from moonlight in 2023.
Anticipated meteors at peak, below excellent situations: Beneath a dark sky with no moon, you would possibly see 10 to fifteen Leonid meteors per hour.
Word: The well-known Leonid meteor bathe produced one of many biggest meteor storms in residing reminiscence. Charges have been as excessive as hundreds of meteors per minute throughout a 15-minute span on the morning of November 17, 1966. That evening, Leonid meteors did, briefly, fall like rain. Some who witnessed it had a robust impression of Earth transferring via space, fording the meteor stream. Leonid meteor storms generally recur in cycles of 33 to 34 years. However the Leonids across the flip of the century – whereas fantastic for a lot of observers – didn’t match the bathe of 1966. And, in most years, the Lion whimpers moderately than roars.
Report a fireball (very bright meteor) to the American Meteor Society: it’s fun and easy!
Discover a place to look at at EarthSky’s Best Places to Stargaze page.
The mum or dad comet of the Leonid meteor bathe
From the late, great Don Machholz (1952-2022), who found 12 comets …
Periodic Comet Tempel-Tuttle, formally often known as 55P/Temple-Tuttle, is accountable for the Leonid meteor bathe. William Tempel of Marseilles Observatory in France found this comet on the night of December 19, 1865. He discovered the comet within the northern sky, positioned in part of the sky below the north star, close to the star Beta Ursae Minoris.
Phrase of the comet discovery grew to become recognized all through Europe, however the information had not but unfold to the USA. Horace Tuttle of Harvard School Observatory picked up the comet 17 days later, on the night of January 5, 1866. As a result of this was an impartial discovery, Tuttle’s identify was added to the comet. Based mostly upon the measurements throughout this go to of the comet, scientists calculated an orbit of 33.17 years. Astronomers rapidly realized that the meteor storms and showers which occurred in mid-November of every yr have been the results of this comet.
One would suppose that there can be nice curiosity in recovering this comet because it got here again to the earth’s neighborhood in 1899. However there wasn’t a lot curiosity in seeing the comet, everybody wished to see a meteor storm. So, observers missed the comet in 1899. Additionally lacking was an amazing meteor bathe that yr.
Scientists anticipated the subsequent return in 1932. The observatories, utilizing photographic plates with slender field-of-view telescopes, missed it then too. And once more, a significant meteor bathe didn’t materialize.
The comet was recovered in 1965
The comet was lastly recovered in 1965. The brightest the comet acquired that yr was 16th magnitude, seen solely in very giant telescopes. A spectacular meteor storm adopted in 1966. On the subsequent return, in early 1998, the comet was brilliant sufficient that you might see it in binoculars. This go produced further spectacular meteor showers in 1999-2001. 55P/Temple-Tuttle is due again in early 2031.
With a lot anticipation with the 1998 return and the anticipated meteor storms, a number of astronomers calculated the precise time and depth of the storm. They usually have been correct. This was the primary occasion of appropriate predictions. It’s executed by analyzing filaments of fabric expelled from every journey of the comet via the internal solar system. Very often, a filament left behind by the comet a whole bunch of years in the past will intersect the earth and produce a wonderful bathe.
The Leonids, a meteor bathe that revolutionized meteor science.
Word: This text, Leonids 1901-2100, provides particular meteor predictions for every year for this bathe from the yr 2001 to 2100. They recommend 2022 could also be a very good yr!
Which route ought to I look to see the Leonid meteor bathe?
Meteors in annual showers get their names from the purpose within the starry sky from which they seem to radiate. This bathe’s identify comes from the constellation Leo the Lion, as a result of these meteors radiate outward from the neighborhood of stars representing the Lion’s Mane.
In the event you hint the paths of Leonid meteors backward on the sky’s dome, they do appear to stream from close to the star Algieba within the constellation Leo. The purpose within the sky from which they seem to radiate is the radiant point. This radiant level is an optical phantasm. It’s like standing on railroad tracks and peering off into the gap to see the tracks converge. The phantasm of the radiant level comes from the truth that the meteors – very similar to the railroad tracks – are transferring on parallel paths.
Lately, individuals have gotten the mistaken concept that you will need to know the whereabouts of a meteor bathe’s radiant level in an effort to watch the meteor bathe. You don’t have to. The meteors usually don’t turn out to be seen till they’re 30 degrees or so from their radiant level. They’re streaking out from the radiant in all instructions.
Thus, the Leonid meteors – like meteors in all annual showers – will seem in all elements of the sky.
A historical past of meteor storms
Scientists don’t anticipate a Leonid meteor storm this yr. Most astronomers say you want greater than 1,000 meteors an hour to think about a bathe a storm. That’s removed from the ten to fifteen meteors per hour the Leonids ship in common years.
The Leonid bathe is legendary for producing meteor storms, although. The mum or dad comet, Tempel-Tuttle, completes a single orbit across the sun about as soon as each 33 years. It releases contemporary materials each time it approaches the sun. Because the nineteenth century, skywatchers have regarded for Leonid meteor storms about each 33 years, starting with the meteor storm of 1833, which witnesses stated produced greater than 100,000 meteors an hour.
The following nice Leonid storms have been about 33 years later, in 1866 and 1867. In 1899, a meteor storm didn’t materialize. In reality, the anticipation of an amazing meteor storm was so excessive, and the outcomes so disappointing, that many astronomers felt it was the worst blow ever suffered by astronomy within the eyes of the general public.
Some Leonid meteor storms final century
Not till 1966 did the subsequent spectacular Leonid storm happen, this time over the Americas. In 1966, observers within the southwest United States reported seeing 40 to 50 meteors per second (that’s 2,400 to three,000 meteors per minute) throughout a span of quarter-hour on the morning of November 17, 1966.
In 2001, one other nice Leonid meteor storm occurred (although not as nice as 1966). Spaceweather.com reported:
The show started on Sunday morning, November 18, when Earth glided right into a dust cloud shed by Comet Tempel-Tuttle in 1766. Hundreds of meteors per hour rained over North America and Hawaii. Then, on Monday morning November 19 (native time in Asia), it occurred once more: Earth entered a second cometary particles cloud from Tempel-Tuttle. Hundreds extra Leonids then fell over East Asian nations and Australia.
View SpaceWeather’s 2001 Leonid meteor gallery.
The Leonid meteor bathe of 1833
Adolf Vollmy produced the well-known engraving above of the 1833 Leonid meteor bathe for the Adventist e-book “Bible Readings for the Residence Circle.” It’s based mostly on a portray by Swiss artist Karl Jauslin, which, in flip, was based mostly on a first-person account of the 1833 storm by a minister, Joseph Harvey Waggoner, who noticed the 1833 bathe on his manner from Florida to New Orleans.
In that well-known bathe, a whole bunch of hundreds of meteors per hour fell. It was the primary recorded meteor storm of contemporary occasions.
Leonid meteors from the EarthSky Neighborhood
Backside line: In 2023, look ahead to Leonids after midnight till daybreak on December 18. The radiant level rises round midnight and is highest within the sky at daybreak. A waxing crescent moon units earlier than midnight providing you with a moonless sky to look at for meteors.
**Predicted peak occasions and dates for 2023 meteor showers are from the American Meteor Society. Word that meteor bathe peak occasions can fluctuate.
EarthSky’s meteor shower guide for 2023
EarthSky’s monthly night sky guide: Visible planets and more
Meteor showers: Tips for watching the show
