With November comes the Leonid meteor shower. The 2024 Leonids will be a reasonably
laid-back
affair with the early morning opportunity to observe shooting stars
between November 6 to 30. The peak display will be this evening and into tomorrow Sunday morning
November 17.
The meteors originate when the orbital path of the earth collides with the debris left behind by
comets.
These bits and pieces of comet detritus enter the earth’s atmosphere
with the resulting vaporization creating the streaks of light we call
meteors.
The debris associated with the repeated passage of the comet Tempel-Tuttle
results in this November display. Like other meteor showers, this one
will be best viewed after midnight. Turn your gaze toward the constellation Leo the Lion, where the shooting stars appear to emanate.
The 2024 Leonids
are a moderate meteor shower with a peak display of about 10-15 meteors
per hour. Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo the
Lion, dots a backwards question mark of stars known as the Sickle. If
you trace all the “shooting stars” from the Leonid meteor shower
backward, they appear to radiate from this area of the sky.
Interference of moonlight may wash-out many of the meteors visible in a
darker sky. Nevertheless, a dark rural location with minimal light
pollution may yield good results.
Tempel-Tuttle
is a periodic visitor that will return in 2031. it is worthy of
mention that the Leonids can be stunning on rare occasions. With the
reappearance of Tempel-Tuttle every 33 years the debris left in its wake
can result in meteors up to a rate of 1000 an hour! 2001 was a very
good November and 1966 was breathtaking.
Unfortunately, a bright moon is going to shine on your meteor parade all night long competing with the fainter meteors.
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