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Astronomers can’t wait to catch Leonid’s meteor shower this week, but you’ll need to set the alarm if you want to see the best display. From the late night of November 16, until early dawn on November 17, there will be a peak of 10-20 meteors per hour. Only about half of that amount will be visible from the UK, as some of them will be below the horizon.
On any given stargazing night, you can expect to see a couple of meteors every hour. Meteors, commonly known as “shooting stars,” are flashes of light caused by pieces of dust or rock that burn as they pass through Earth’s atmosphere. Incredibly, they are usually the size of a grain of sand, but they travel so fast (around 66 km / s) that they create a path that shines like the stars.
Every so often, the Earth’s orbit takes us to an area particularly dense with cosmic debris, a trail of rock and dust left in the wake of an asteroid or a comet. We see it as a meteor shower. The Leonid rain is associated with comet 55P / Tempel-Tuttle.
The annual Leonid meteor shower usually takes place November 10-20, and this year its activity will peak in the early morning hours on November 17. While it may not be the most prolific annual meteor shower, about every 33 years the Leonids produce a “meteor storm” in which hundreds – or even thousands – of meteors can be seen. The latter happened in 1999-2001, where there were about 1,000 shooting stars per hour.
More information on stargazing:
Meteor showers are named after their sheen, which is where they appear to come from from the sky. The Leonid meteor shower, for example, appears to come from the constellation Leo. Leonids are fast, bright meteors with thin trails.
To search for meteors, let your eyes adjust to the darkness, then look straight up. It can take about 30 minutes for the night vision to fully adjust, so don’t look at your phone and don’t use a flashlight while stargazing.
Although meteors come from Leo, it is not important to find that constellation specifically – they can travel across the entire sky. So make sure you can see as much of the sky as possible, unobstructed by buildings or trees, to give you the best chance. Most importantly, make sure you’re comfortable, taking a chair (a recliner is best), a blanket, and maybe even a flask of hot chocolate with you.
Don’t worry if you get lost this time, the Geminid meteor showers will take place in December.
Q&A Reader: Can you hear a meteor?
Asked by: Harry McClure, Barnstaple
Meteors are capable of creating sound waves. As they make their way through the atmosphere, they can create a sonic boom in the same way as a fast-moving plane. However, since meteors are generally 100 km or more in altitude and sound travels much slower than light, such sonic booms would not be heard until several minutes after the meteor appeared to viewers on Earth. Also, the sound may not be loud enough to be heard.
Some people claim to have heard hissing or buzzing at the same time as seeing a meteor. These can be caused by the very low frequency radio waves that are generated by the meteors, which will arrive at the same time that the observer sees the meteorite pass above them. These waves have been shown to vibrate glasses, plant foliage, pine needles, and even hair. This somewhat explains the hissing noises.
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