November’s wonderful Leonid meteor shower is active from about November 6 to 30 each year. The peak is expected in 2019 on the night of November 17 (morning of November 18). The shower happens as our world crosses the orbital path of Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. Like many comets, Tempel-Tuttle litters its orbit with bits of debris. It’s when this cometary debris enters Earth’s atmosphere and vaporizes that we see the Leonid meteor shower. In 2019, a waning gibbous moon will light up the sky during the shower’s peak. In a dark sky, absent of moonlight, you can see up to 10 to 15 meteors per hour at the peak. In 2019’s moonlit sky? We can’t predict, but some of the brighter meteors should be visible in moonlight.
How many Leonid meteors will you see in 2019? The answer always depends on when you watch, where you watch, and on the clarity and darkness of your night sky.
In 2019, no matter where you are on Earth – and no matter when you watch, on the morning of the peak itself, or on the morning leading up to the peak – the best hours of the night for meteor-watching will be hindered by the bright moon. Those hours are between midnight and dawn, when Earth’s forward motion through space has carried your part of Earth head-on into the meteor stream.
Also, in 2019, there’s really no way to avoid the moon. You’ll have to find a way to work around it. Try observing in a shadow of a large structure (like a barn), or in a mountain shadow. Just try to keep the moon out of view. Let your eyes adjust to the darkness for a period, say, 15 minutes to half an hour. Just wait and watch, don’t expect too much, and see what you see.
Where should you watch the meteor shower? We hear lots of reports from people who see meteors from yards, decks, streets and especially highways in and around cities. But the best place to watch a meteor shower is always in the country. Just go far enough from town that glittering stars, the same stars drowned by city lights, begin to pop into view.
City, state and national parks are often great places to watch meteor showers. Be sure to go to the park early in the day and find a wide-open area with a good view of the sky in all directions.
When night falls, you’ll probably be impatient to see meteors. But remember that the shower is best after midnight. Catch a nap in early evening if you can. After midnight, lie back comfortably and watch as best you can in all parts of the sky. In recent years, people have gotten the mistaken idea that you must know the whereabouts of a meteor shower’s radiant point in order to watch the meteor shower. You don’t need to. The meteors often don’t become visible until they are 30 degrees or so from their radiant point. They are streaking out from the radiant in all directions. The Leonid meteors – like meteors in all annual showers – will appear in all parts of the sky.
Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo the Lion, dots a backwards question mark of stars known as the Sickle. If you trace all the Leonid meteors backward, they appear to radiate from this area of the sky.
Which direction should I look to see the Leonids? Meteors in annual showers are named for the point in our sky from which they appear to radiate. This shower is named for the constellation Leo the Lion, because these meteors radiate outward from the vicinity of stars representing the Lion’s Mane.
Old woodcuts depicting 1833 Leonid meteor storm – “the night the stars fell.”
The Leonid shower is known for producing meteor storms, though. The parent comet – Tempel-Tuttle – completes a single orbit around the sun about once every 33 years. It releases fresh material every time it enters the inner solar system and approaches the sun. Since the 19th century, sky watchers have watched for Leonid meteor storms about every 33 years, beginning with the meteor storm of 1833, said to produce more than 100,000 meteors an hour.
James Younger sent in this photo during the 2015 peak of the Leonid meteor shower. It’s a meteor over the San Juan Islands in the Pacific Northwest, between the U.S. mainland and Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
Bottom line: If you want to watch the 2019 Leonid meteor shower, just know that the hours between midnight and dawn are best for meteor-watching. Unfortunately, this year, a waning gibbous moon will drown all but the brightest meteors from the sky. Still, if you look, you might see some!
