November Meteor Sky Cast: NASA Predicts Meteor Showers for November 17th
NASA scientists expect a shower of meteors to peak about two a.m. the morning of November 17th. This shower will be clearly visible without the help of binoculars or a telescope, provided the star gazer heads away from city lights and looks North towards the constellation of Leo, which rises in the East.
Image via Wikipedia
Astronomers predict that more than 500 meteors per hour will streak across the early morning sky as the constellation of Leo appears in the East before sunrise on November 17th. Since meteor showers receive their names from the constellation from which they appear to fall, or radiate, this slew of meteors is called the Leonids’ Meteor Shower.
These particular meteors come from the trail of dust formed by the 55/Tempel-Tuttle comet as this debris stream crosses the earth’s path–a yearly occurrence since 1466. A comet, of course, makes an elongated orbit around the sun, its central mass, or nucleus, surrounded by a coma that extends into a steam, or tail, pointed away from the sun. A meteor, in turn, is the streak formed by a piece of rocky debris, or a meteoroid, passing through the earth’s upper atmosphere.
To best observe the Leonids’ Meteor Shower, head away from city lights and toward the constellation. Position the body so that the horizon appears on the edge of your peripheral vision. When it’s dark enough to see each star in the Little Dipper, sky watchers can see these falling stars.
Image via Wikipedia
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7 Responses to “November Meteor Sky Cast: NASA Predicts Meteor Showers for November 17th”
On November 7, 2009 at 4:14 pm
i live in East London always difficult to find somewhere without light so where would you suggest?
On November 7, 2009 at 9:32 pm
VERY GOOD INFORMATION….THANKS i’LL BE WATCHING.
On November 7, 2009 at 11:22 pm
I’m not how you can head away from city lights in London, Leon, unless you schedule a holiday and head out of the greater London area.
On November 12, 2009 at 3:01 am
Flashy Leonids are fast and brief. The photo shows a comet not a meteor.
On November 12, 2009 at 7:41 am
Rob, thanks for calling my attention to a picture that needed correction. I couldn’t remove the picture of a comet, but I did add a woodcut that is now placed above the photo showing a comet.
On November 12, 2009 at 9:43 am
Does anyone knows where to observe it from moscow ?
On November 17, 2009 at 10:38 am
what time will it be showing in the UK, if at all? It says approx 2 am US time, but that is early evening for us, i.e. 4pm. And assuming we follow it around Asian sunrise, that would be around 8-9pm our time. Any thoughts?
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