You may have one thing to stay up for within the sky earlier than the weekend.
The annual meteor bathe is about to peak early Saturday, giving individuals the prospect to see vivid and maybe colourful meteors within the predawn hours.
Though not essentially the most energetic meteor bathe of the yr, the Leonids are nonetheless able to producing about 15 meteors per hour below clear situations. The crescent moon can also be setting within the night this weekend, which ought to result in darkish skies not washed out by the brilliant moonlight.
To identify meteors, NASA recommends heading exterior round midnight. As with all meteor bathe, it’s best to decide on a viewing location away from road lights or different types of mild air pollution. Subsequent, be ready to calm down and relaxation, which can imply braving the chilly temperatures of mid-November.
Meteors will seem streaming in all instructions from the constellation Leo, which rises within the east after midnight this month. It’s best to head east, and select a lookout level with a large view of the sky.
Leonids happen in each the northern and southern hemispheres.
The Leonid meteor bathe lasts from November 3 to December 2, however the sky exhibits a peak in exercise early Saturday. If situations are clear, you can even see a phenomenal show earlier than daybreak on Friday or late at evening on the identical day.
Leonids are normally vivid meteorites and capturing stars may be colourful. According to NASA. It’s also one of many quickest meteorites, touring at an astonishing pace of about 44 miles per second, the house company mentioned.
The Leonid meteor bathe happens yearly in November, as Earth passes via trails of particles from Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. The comet was found twice independently – as soon as in 1865 by Ernest Temple and once more in 1866 by Horace Tuttle.
It takes Comet Tempel-Tuttle 33 years to finish one orbit across the Solar. As soon as each 33 years or so, comet particles can produce a meteor storm, with a whole bunch to 1000’s of meteors per hour noticed in the course of the peak. One such Leonid storm occurred in 1966, when 1000’s of meteors shot throughout the sky over a 15-minute interval, in response to NASA. The company mentioned the final meteor storm occurred in 2002.
