“This yr, the Leonid meteor bathe is timed nearly completely with a brand new moon…”
WALTER PACHOLKA, ASTROPICS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
There’s something magical about watching a meteor bathe. A part of that is right down to the bathe’s unpredictability – the situations can seem excellent, but you should still find yourself underwhelmed, particularly when you find yourself promised a whole bunch of meteors an hour. However then there are occasions once you collect associates round to benefit from the present collectively, and you might be blissful to see only a handful of taking pictures stars.
This yr, the Leonid meteor bathe is timed nearly completely with a brand new moon, giving us an exquisite probability to see loads of meteors zipping throughout the sky. There is probably not a whole bunch every hour, however I’d nonetheless advocate attempting to take a look.
Meteor showers occur at about the identical time yearly, as a result of they coincide with Earth’s path across the solar bringing us by means of patches of particles left behind by passing comets and asteroids. This causes extra items of mud than regular to enter our ambiance, the place they dissipate within the vibrant flashes of meteors.
The Leonid meteor bathe comes from the mud left behind by Tempel-Tuttle, a comet 3.6 kilometres in diameter that orbits the solar each 33 years. When it comes shut by, the Leonids turn into a meteor storm quite than a meteor bathe, with 1000’s of meteors seen each hour. The final storm was in 2002, so we are able to’t count on one other for 10 years.
Even so, there needs to be a fantastic probability to see meteors just like the one pictured in case you are fortunate sufficient to have clear skies. The Leonid meteor bathe begins on 6 November and might be lively till the top of the month, however the peak is on the night of 17 November, into the morning of the 18th. November’s new moon is on the twentieth, so on the night of the bathe’s peak, it will likely be a really skinny waning crescent. One of the best time to look might be simply after midnight native time, wherever you reside on this planet. In contrast with different meteor showers, the Leonids are likely to have a gradual peak, so it’s price trying on the times across the seventeenth when you’ve got a transparent night time on both aspect.
Meteor showers are named after the constellation the meteors seem to return from within the sky, however this doesn’t imply you must discover Leo to see the Leonids. Leo is a simple constellation to identify, although, and is seen from many of the world, aside from extraordinarily southern latitudes. To search out Leo, search for its iconic backwards query mark, or sickle sample. It is going to be close to the Plough, or Large Dipper, within the sky. In the event you want additional assist discovering it, you should use an app in your cellphone.
To finest get pleasure from a meteor bathe, first get heat and comfy. The present can contain sitting nonetheless for a very long time, so I like to recommend a sizzling water bottle and a option to search for with out hurting your neck. Get as removed from mild air pollution as you’ll be able to. However if you wish to look from your home, flip off the lights and let your eyes modify. Get pleasure from!
These articles are posted every week at
newscientist.com/maker
Abigail Beall is a options editor at New Scientist and creator of The Artwork of City Astronomy. Observe her @abbybeall
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