When is the best time to view the Leonid Meteor Shower?”
Hold it, didn’t we just get done with some meteor showers? If you’ve got a feeling of Deja Vu all over again (H.T. Yogi Berra), it’s because we had the Perseids meteor shower in August and the Orionids meteor shower in October. Tonight (tomorrow morning), it’s the Leonid meteor shower. Those who aren’t really enthusiasts of this type of thing might wonder if we really need another one. After all, on a warm summer evening or a chilly fall night, the idea of staying up late to watch a meteor shower sounds adventurous — even romantic. You know, bring some hot chocolate, get a sleeping bag, and cuddle up with that special someone to watch the cosmic light show. But, once the temperatures plunge below freezing, the romance — to some — loses its luster. Why set your alarm for 3:30 in the morning to see some gravel falling from the sky, when you could be in a nice warm bed? To meteor shower enthusiasts, that type of attitude is heresy. Even if it’s snowing you should stay up, they say.Tonight
One of the best annual meteor showers will peak in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday, and for some skywatchers the show could be quite impressive. The best seats are in Asia, but North American observers should be treated to an above average performance of the Leonid meteor shower, weather permitting. The trick for all observers is to head outside in the wee hours of the morning – between 1 a.m. and dawn – regardless where you live. The Leonids put on a solid show every year, if skies are clear and moonlight does not interfere. This year the moon is near its new phase, and not a factor. For anyone in the Northern Hemisphere with dark skies, away from urban and suburban lighting, the show should be worth getting up early to see. “We’re predicting 20 to 30 meteors per hour over the Americas, and as many as 200 to 300 per hour over Asia,” said Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office. Other astronomers who work in the nascent field of meteor shower prediction have put out similar foreca
The Leonid meteor shower is expected to fill the sky with “shooting stars” early Tuesday morning, but forecasted clouds and showers of a wetter variety could make it hard to see anything. “We’re at the mercy of the never-ending Pineapple Express,” said Dave Balam, a telescope operator at the National Research Council of Canada’s Dominion Astrophysical Observatory. Around 1 a.m. Tuesday, West Coast stargazers might have a front-row seat as the Earth passes through the debris trail of an old comet, the Tempel-Tuttle.
