Heads up stargazers! The Leonid meteor bathe peaks tonight, bringing a flurry of taking pictures stars to the night time sky as Earth passes via the path of particles shed by comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle.
The Leonid meteor bathe is lively from Nov. 3 to Dec 2 and peaks in a single day on Nov. 16-17, when as much as 10 meteors per hour could also be seen radiating from a patch of sky within the constellation Leo, in keeping with the American Meteor Society.
What time ought to I search for the Leonids?
The most effective time to search for Leonids is late at night time on Nov. 16 via to the hours previous daybreak on Nov. 17, when the constellation Leo can be positioned excessive above the japanese horizon, with Jupiter shining brightly to its higher proper. Search for a patch of sky roughly 40 levels above the radiant in Leo, that is roughly the width of 4 clenched fists held at arm’s size, the place the meteor trails can be at their longest.
Robert Lunsford is the fireball report coordinator, publication editor and treasurer on the American Meteor Society, one of many main sources of knowledge on meteor showers.
“On the morning of November seventeenth I’d anticipate observers of the Leonid bathe to see 5-10 meteors per hour,” Robert Lunsford of the American Meteor Society advised House.com in an e-mail. “It falls off quickly, [so] I’d anticipate charges of solely 5 [shooting stars] per hour on the next morning and one other 50 % drop off on every of the next mornings.”
Make sure you put on heat clothes to fight the chilly and permit a minimum of half-hour to your eyes to regulate totally to the darkish, to present your self the most effective likelihood of recognizing fainter members of the annual bathe. Attempt to use a purple gentle if you have to go searching, as this may assist hold your night time imaginative and prescient intact over a normal flashlight!
Nikon Z8
Need to seize a fiery taking pictures star for your self? We fee the Nikon Z8 as the most effective total digicam on the market! Make sure you try our Nikon Z8 evaluation for a extra in-depth have a look at its capabilities.
The Leonid meteor bathe is understood for producing spectacular meteor storms from time to time, when lots of, and even hundreds of meteors will be seen brightening the night time sky every hour. Sadly, Earth is not as a consequence of cross via a very dense cloud of cometary particles from 55P/Tempel-Tuttle till the 12 months 2099.
Need to {photograph} a taking pictures star? Then remember to try our information to imaging meteor showers, together with our roundups of the finest cameras and lenses obtainable for astrophotography in 2025.
Editor’s Observe: If you want to share your meteor pictures with House.com’s readers, then please ship your photograph(s), feedback, identify and site to spacephotos@house.com.
