Every year, stargazers and astronomy enthusiasts eagerly await one of the most prolific celestial events, the Leonids Meteor Shower. The meteor began on November 6 this year and will continue until November 30 and can be witnessed easily through the naked eye. The peak activity, however, is expected on November 17.

What is the Leonids Meteor Shower?

Originally discovered in 1833, the Leonids Meteor Shower contains debris left behind by the 55P/Tempel-Tuttle comet that enter Earth’s atmosphere. As they fall from the sky and brought towards the ground by Earth’s gravity, the friction of the atmosphere on their re-entry lights up the debris. These debris are called meteors and are seen as bright streaks of light across the night sky.

The meteor shower has been named the Leonids Meteor Shower as it seems to emanate from the sector of the sky where the head of the Leo constellation lies. The meteors are some of the fastest that are seen on Earth, travelling at speeds of up to 2,55,600 kmph. The meteors are also seen as streaking very close to the horizon.

How to see the meteor shower?

To see the meteor shower, one needs to get away from sources of light pollution. One needs to go to an isolated place that is suitably dark, and then train their eyes at the sky near the Leo constellation. While ideal conditions include a new moon and cloudless skies, the presence of the moon on November 17 will cause some of the smaller meteors to be invisible. The shower will be visible in the early hours of November 17, after November 16 turns over to the next day.

While the showers turn into a meteor storm where hundreds of meteors shower through the sky every 33 years, when the comet reaches its perihelion (closest approach to the sun), one can expect to see 10-15 meteors an hour with ideal conditions this year as well.

(Edited by : Anshul)

First Published:Nov 11, 2021 9:15 AM IST