admin The Leonids meteor shower were at on peak through Sunday night into Monday morning, November 17-18, colorful shooting stars showed streak across the night sky during one of the most famous annual meteor displays.
The Leonid meteor shower occurs every year when Earth passes through a cloud of debris left behind by comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. As the debris collides with the atmosphere, it creates shooting stars.
According to NASA, stargazers expected peaks of around 15 meteors per hour this year. Leonids are usually colorful and bright shooting stars having a speed of about 44 miles per second that creates persistent trails across the sky.
The Leonids produce a meteor storm in every 33 years, as the comet makes its closest pass to the sun, caused by particularly dense debris, that produces more than 1,000 meteors per hour. Another one isn’t expected until 2031.
“The great Leonid meteor storm of 1833 did more to spawn the study of meteors than any other single event,” the American Meteor Society said.
A burst of 1999 Leonid meteors as seen at 38,000 feet from Leonid Multi Instrument Aircraft Campaign (Leonid MAC) with 50 mm camera. NASA/Ames Research Center/ISAS/Shinsuke Abe and Hajime Yano When and where to watch the Leonids
In order to view a meteor shower, need a location with a clear view of the night sky. They won’t fully come into view until after midnight, according to NASA, as the meteors collide with the atmosphere head-on.
Facing east and lying flat, looking up and allowing your eyes about thirty minutes to adjust to the darkness. Keeping an eye out for fireballs, which are larger explosions of light and color that can last longer than average shooting stars, the show lasted until dawn.
Leonids enter Earth’s atmosphere at the fastest meteor velocities possible because of the nature of their orbit, and despite the relatively mild predictions for this year’s shower, stargazers were long-lasting green streaks left in their wake.
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