The largest Leonid meteor shower for many decades is expected in the early morning hours of Nov. 19, but the shooting star show won't be as good as last year, says Mike Shanahan, Bishop Museum Planetarium manager. Leonids to stage
night-sky showStar-Bulletin staff
He said the shower will be relatively small because of a full moon and the late rise of the Leo the Lion constellation in the sky, for which the Leonids are named.
"However, many of the Leonid meteors are bright and may hold their own, so we should expect to see up to 70 meteors per hour," he said.
The shower -- beginning Nov. 18 and peaking the morning of the 19th -- is created by debris from comet Tempel Tuttle, which orbits the sun once every 33 years.
The closer the comet gets to the sun, the more dust and debris are removed by the sun's heat. The comet's closest approach to the sun was in 1998.
"Stay up late on Monday, Nov. 18, then look for showers as soon as it becomes Nov. 19," Shanahan advises.
Since the moon will lighten up the skies, there's no need to go to a dark location to look for the meteors but viewers should get away from street lights, he said.
He suggests taking a blanket in case it's chilly and a lawn chair or recliner since people will be looking up all the time.
Astronomers say the best time to look for the Leonids here is between midnight and 1 a.m. Nov. 19, he said.
The peak is expected to occur between 12:13 and 12:44 a.m., with heightened shooting star activity until about 3 a.m.
During the time of the estimated peak, the Leo constellation will just be rising in the east-northeast, Shanahan said.
Although the shooting stars seem to come from that direction, he said, "watch the overall sky" because they can appear anywhere.
Leonid shooting stars can be very bright, tinged with blue or green hues, and they're very fast-moving, at 158,000 miles per hour, he said.
They often leave vapor trails in the sky -- some lasting up to five minutes, he said.
"Get in place by 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19," Shanahan said. "Don't wait till the evening of Nov. 19 or you'll have missed the Leonids completely."
After this year, he said, "Clumps of comet dust that cause the shower will be too far from the earth's orbit to put on much of a show, and the Leonid shower will become a very average shower."
Bishop Museum Planetarium
Science@NASA Leonids page