Leonid meteors streak by means of the sky through the 2018 bathe; shiny Venus can be seen. This 12 months, the early-morning sky will look comparable, together with the place of Venus. Credit score: Mike Lewinski (Flickr)
Annually, Earth experiences a number of meteor showers. This week, it’s time for the Leonids, which all the time happen in mid-November and are a longtime fall favourite. These meteors are generated from particles left by Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, which rounds the Solar as soon as each 33 years and final graced our skies in 1998.
This 12 months’s Leonid meteor bathe peaks in a single day from November 17 to 18, which is right as a result of it means many observers can keep up late into the early-morning hours to catch meteors with out having to fret about getting up early the following day. Plus, the waxing crescent Moon units early — round 8:30 P.M. native time on the seventeenth — and even whereas it’s up, isn’t shiny sufficient to intervene a lot with the present.
When and the place to search for Leonids
The perfect time to see Leonid meteors can be early on the morning of the 18th, an hour or two earlier than dawn. That’s when Leo the Lion, which incorporates the radiant for the bathe (and for which it’s named) can be highest within the japanese sky. By an hour earlier than native dawn, the radiant needs to be some 70° overhead and meteor charges can be at their highest. Additionally within the morning, Earth’s main hemisphere is become the bathe, leading to extra spectacular meteors.
Look east early on Saturday morning and the very first thing you’ll doubtless discover is shiny Venus simply above the horizon, outshining any star. Venus is positioned in Virgo, to the decrease left of Leo the Lion. So, from Venus, solid your gaze up and to the best, and search for a sample of stars that appears like a backwards query mark, anchored by a very shiny star on the backside as the purpose. That’s the Sickle of Leo, which outlines the Lion’s head. The radiant is simply to the best of the center of the query mark’s curve. That is the purpose from which the Leonids seem to originate (or radiate) on the sky — but it surely’s additionally not fairly the place you need to look.
For the most effective probability of seeing shiny meteors streaking previous the background stars, look some 40° to 60° away from the radiant — primarily, solid your gaze throughout the sky in a large arc on both aspect of Leo, reasonably than simply concentrating proper on the purpose the place the radiant lies.
Associated: The Full Moon calendar for 2023 and 2024
For many who choose to search for meteors late on the seventeenth, wait so long as you possibly can and once more, look east as you step exterior. Many Leonids seem to streak by means of Gemini, Orion, and even Taurus, which lie within the east above the horizon later within the night. By about 10 P.M. native time, these constellations are roughly 30° excessive; they proceed climbing because the night time wears on. Leo itself doesn’t rise till shortly earlier than midnight. (However once more, since the most effective meteors streak by means of areas of the sky considerably away from this constellation, it’s okay to start out your search earlier than Leo is seen!)
Beneath are the instances for dawn, sundown, moonrise, and moonset on Friday and Saturday — word these particular instances are given in native time from 40° N 90° W:
Friday, November 17
Dawn: 6:47 A.M.
Sundown: 4:42 P.M.
Moonrise: 11:25 A.M.
Moonset: 8:24 P.M.
Saturday, November 18
Dawn: 6:48 A.M.
Sundown: 4:41 P.M.
Moonrise: 12:10 P.M.
Moonset: 9:39 P.M.
What the Leonids appear to be
The utmost variety of meteors you possibly can count on to see through the peak this weekend is about 10 per hour, with typical charges a bit decrease (some few per hour). In fact, that is a median, so generally you may see extra meteors, and generally much less.
Though that charge might not appear excessive, the Leonids are nonetheless price a glance. That’s as a result of Earth encounters the stream of particles left behind by Tempel-Tuttle almost head-on, inflicting the Leonids to streak by means of our skies at notably excessive speeds, transferring quicker than another meteors. They stream by means of Earth’s environment at speeds of almost 44 miles (70 kilometers) per second. Meaning they’re extra doubtless than slower-moving meteors to depart lengthy, glowing trains of ionized fuel within the sky. These trails of sunshine not solely observe instantly after the meteor, however some may even hold within the air for a number of minutes! Typical estimates reveal that roughly half of all Leonid meteors depart lengthy trains, so though there might not be many meteors by way of amount, the standard of what you’ll see greater than makes up for it.
Extra Leonid meteors subsequent 12 months?
Usually proper after Tempel-Tuttle passes by means of, inside a number of years Earth will expertise a meteor storm with extraordinarily excessive charges — some 1,000 meteors per hour or extra! The final such storm occurred in 2002 and now we have some time earlier than the following shiny one, which ought to happen shortly after the comet’s subsequent move in 2031. The storms are so few and much between as a result of over time, any dense clouds of fabric the comet might have left behind are influenced by gravitational forces all through the solar system, notably Jupiter. As the large planet tugs on the particles within the comet’s path, they transfer out of the best way of Earth’s orbit and now not intersect it.
At the moment, some predictions present the 2024 Leonids may need an outburst of extra faint meteors on supply than normal. It’s unclear whether or not this may truly happen, but it surely does make the following Leonid meteor bathe fairly tantalizing. So, mark your calendar for subsequent November — however within the meantime, don’t move up this 12 months’s present, because it happens beneath higher circumstances and can absolutely have some memorable moments.
So, ensure you get out this Friday night time or Saturday morning to benefit from the 2023 Leonids and all the intense meteors it must supply!
