On the night of Nov. 17 up until the morning of Nov. 18, the sky will be festooned with a beautiful Leonid meteor shower.
Astronomers urge sky gazers to witness the bright and colorful Leonids pour over the earth after midnight on Tuesday, specifically 22:00 UT or 5p.m. EST. It is said that the darkness of the sky during those hours will accentuate the meteors. Spectators will see the meteors hailing from the location of the constellation Leo. In addition, meteor fireballs or orbs of light may also appear in the skies for extended periods of time.
Leonids are bits of rubbles from Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, a comet that orbits the sun every third of a century. During the month of November, Earth passes those rubbles, which in turn collide with the atmosphere in incredible speed that they immediately vaporize and turn into meteors.
During the fated month, Leonid showers and even storms emerge. Backtracking to the best shows put up by the annual appearance of the Leonids, Star Date remarked that this year's Leonid meteor shower is not as generous as the marvelous storms brought to sky watchers in 1833 and 1966.
"Viewers in 1966 experienced a spectacular Leonid storm: thousands of meteors per minute fell through Earth's atmosphere during a 15 minute period. There were so many meteors seen that they appeared to fall like rain," NASA explained. The 1833 storm, on the other hand, lit up the sky so bright Americans were forced out of bed. This phenomenon happens once every 33 years. Since the latest one was back in 2002, it will be a long while before a storm of Leonids will come streaking the cosmos again.
Luckily enough, this year's waning-crescent moon is in place for the much-awaited occurrence and will make the sky even dimmer during the show. This only means that the shower will be a much more glowing sight.
After gaping over the Leonid meteor shower, sky gazers can look forward to the Geminids next month.
