The peak of the Leonid meteor shower will occur on November 17 and 18

The peak of the Leonid meteor shower will occur on November 17 and 18

Unfortunately, this year the Leonids meteor shower will most likely not be as impressive as the one that was in 1999, when every few seconds it burned through a meteor. Each year, the peak of the meteor shower falls on November 17 and 18 and is the result of the interaction of the Earth and the remnants of comet Tempel-Tuttle. The comet moves around the Sun and makes a full orbit every 33 years. Sweeping across the expanses of the solar system, the comet leaves a trash loop in its orbit.

When the Earth passes through this trash plume, the remains of a comet colorfully burn in the atmosphere of Earth. If this happens at the time of the recent passage of a comet, then the meteor shower becomes especially impressive. Unfortunately, according to astronomers, the next such peak of the meteor shower will be in 2032.

This week, instead of hundreds or even thousands of meteors per hour, the peak of the meteor shower that occurs on November 18 will be no more than 20 meteors per hour.

To understand why meteoric activity tends to intensify within an hour after midnight, imagine a car traveling along a country road that faces a swarm of flies. As soon as the car passes through a swarm of unsuspecting insects, they crash into the windshield. Similarly, when the Earth passes through a stream of meteors, its front hemisphere receives most of its collisions. In November of this year, the Leonid meteor shower can be observed from November 6, and this event will last until the end of the month. In order to detect them, you will need to stock up on warm clothes and go away from the city lights. As expected, the peak of the meteor shower will be in the first hours of November 18.

If you carefully track the path of the meteor shower in the sky, you will notice that they come to us from the constellation of the lion. But we advise you to simply lie back and enjoy the sky. As a rule, Leonids are very fast and travel at speeds in excess of 45 miles (70 kilometers) per second!

Good luck and a clear sky over your head!

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