TheLeonid shooting star showerwill be make its annual appearance in the sky this weekend . AsNPRreports , the in effect time to view it will be late Saturday Nox into Sunday morning ( November 17 - 18)—so if you really want to fascinate this fulgent sluttish show , you may require to drink some coffee to help you appease up .
The waxing gibbous Moon will dampen the meteors ’ smooth a small , so plan to start stargazing after the Moon has set but before dawn on Sunday . ( you’re able to usetimeanddate.comto figure out the moonset clip in your expanse . The land site also features an interactional shooting star shower sky mapping to trail visibility conditions . )
If you ’ll be in component part of the South or Midwest this weekend , you ’re in luck . Florida , Alabama , Mississippi , Nebraska , and Nevada are expected to love the best view of the Leonids this time around , according toPopular Mechanics .
The Leonids pass off every year around November 17 or 18 , when Earth drifts across the long lead of debris left behind by the comet Tempel - Tuttle . The comet takes 33 years to complete its arena around the Sun , and when it reaches perihelion ( its closest approach to the Sun ) , a Leonid storm may occur look on the density of the comet ’s live debris . This sometimes results in hundreds of thousand of meteoroid streaking across the sky per hour , viewable from Earth . The last Leonid storm occurred in 2001 , but Earth may not see dense debris clouds until 2099 , harmonize to theAmerican Meteor Society .
This twelvemonth , if skies are exonerated and you may batten a secluded spot aside from city luminousness , you might be capable to see around 15 to 20 meteors per hour . They travel at 44 miles per secondly “ and are considered to be some of the fastest meteor out there,”NASAsays . They ’re also known for their “ fireballs”—explosions of Inner Light and color — which tend to last longer than a typical shooting star streak .
[ h / tNPR ]
