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A depiction of Leonid meteors in 1833, when there was a spectacular meteor storm.
The Leonids meteor shower is an annual astronomical event when our planet enters a meteor field created from debris left behind the comet Tempel-Tuttle. The meteors can be observed in November; in 2009, the expected peak is November 17.[1] It's predicted that this year's shower will produce upwards of 500 meteors per hour[2] so don't miss out!
Steps
- Get a comfortable blanket or something else you can lay on for a few hours at a time. Bring a telescope or a pair of binoculars for better viewing of the meteors as they enter the atmosphere and come down towards the surface of the Earth.
- Find a good spot. If you live in a city or urban area, try to find a place away from bright lights, so they don't shine out the meteor shower.
- Go to that spot on the morning (between midnight and dawn) of Tuesday, November 17 if you are in North America.[3]
- The very peak of the meteor shower is predicted to take place at about 21:00 Universal Time[2] which is 1:00am PST, 4:00am EST. So if you're in Asia, you'll get the best view!
Find the constellation Leo, and locate the radiant, or originating point, of the meteor shower. The radiant rises between 10pm and midnight for the bulk of the Northern Hemisphere.[3] The picture shows the constellation Leo to help you find it in the sky. The meteors will emanate from the "head" of the Leo.
If you have trouble finding Leo, look for the Big Dipper. Leo is below the bottom of the dipper.
http://www.wikihow.com/Watch-the-Leonids-Meteor-Shower
I'm going to try and watch it but it may be to cloudy to see it, I think it will be wonderful to see. We are going to have rain here but I sure hope it clears up.
