Sky lovers around the world can get a chance to experience the celestial spectacle this week as the annual Leonid meteor shower reaches its peak.
According to the report, the Leonids will peak at 1:00 pm ET on Monday. EarthSky. You can start seeing meteors at 11:00 pm Sunday local time, as the constellation Leo rises above the horizon. But the best time to watch them is between 4 a.m. Monday and sunrise local time, said Robert Lunsford, fireball reporting coordinator for the American Meteor Society.
“Unlike many (meteor) showers, the Leonids have a very sharp peak,” Lunsford said, adding that there is only one good night for viewing.
Parent comet Leonid. 55P/Tempel-TuttleIt is worth thanking for this short period of time. The size of the comet's debris trail is small, so the Earth passes through it in a short time.
The meteors you'll see around 11 p.m. Sunday will be touching the Earth, meaning they'll last longer than usual and travel across much of the sky, Lunsford said. “But you won't see as much because most of Leonid's activity will be directed downward, beyond the horizon,” he added.
In clear weather, you can expect to see 10 to 15 meteors per hour.
Showers and thunderstorms
Although a meteor shower is expected this year, the Leonids are known for producing huge meteor storms from time to time, with at least 1,000 meteors per hour.
Last Leonid meteor storm This was in 2002. However, one of the most memorable storms occurred in 1966, when “we passed right through the center of one of the Leonid showers, and the speed was estimated at 40 meteors per second,” Lunsford said.
In this storm, meteor activity was so widespread in the sky that the meteors appeared to fall like rain.
The high meteor activity coincides with the moment when Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle reaches perihelion, its closest approach in orbit to the Sun. The comet takes 33 years to orbit the Sun, so the larger Leonid meteor showers, and sometimes storms, typically occur about every 33 years.
For a storm to occur, the Earth must pass through a dense portion of the comet's debris at perihelion, but sometimes our planet only skims the outskirts.
The next shower, which will coincide with the comet's orbital cycle, will occur in 2033, but is not expected to be a storm, Lunsford said. “We could see speeds of about 100 storms per hour, which is comparable to the Geminids,” he said, “but we certainly don't expect any 1,000-meter-per-hour storms.”
Upcoming meteor showers
Here are the peak dates for the two remaining meteor showers expected this year, according to data American Meteor Society And EarthSky.
Upcoming supermoon
Follow last full supermoon this year.
Register for CNN Science Newsletter Wonder Theory. Explore the universe with news about exciting discoveries, scientific advances, and more.
For more CNN news and newsletters, create an account at: CNN.com
