Leonid Meteor Shower Update: Viewing Time & Live Stream

• comments
• 
• 

If forecasts are correct, the Leonid Meteor shower will have minimal but sparkly show of meteors this week. The crescent moon will also not interfere the view of the shower.

"We're predicting 10 to 15 meteors per hour," said Bill Cooke of the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.  "For best viewing, wait until after midnight on Nov. 18, with the peak of the shower occurring just before sunrise."

The Leonid meteors came from the debris of Comet Temple-Tuttle. The comet passes through our solar system every 33 years and leaves a trail of debris that causes the Leonids, which then passes Earth mostly around November.

What makes the Leonids unique is the high possibility of bigger outbursts when the Earth passes through the main trail of the debris. The outburst could have about a thousand meteors per hour.

The Leonid occurred back in 1966, in 1998 and in 1999. The 1966 Leonid meteor shower was popular because it has reached 1,000 meteors per hour, according to International Business Times. The 1998 meteor shower only averaged about 500 meteors per hour. But, the 1999 Leonid had garnered about 1,800 meteors per hour.

"From here the peak was around 2,200 meteors at 02:13," reported Michael Schmidhuber from ESA who was aboard an international plan during the Leonid on Nov. 18, 1999.

Just like any other shower, it can be best viewed far from ambient lights which is usually reflected by urban areas. It is recommended to find a spot far from the city and locate the constellation Leo where the shower will pass through. To find Leo, look for the Regulus star, one of brightest stars in the sky. Regulus is also called the right "foot" of the lion, which is shaped like a question mark.

For other meteor-watching spots, Clear Sky Chart has offered a tool where you can find good viewing conditions in your locale. However, for people who cannot go outside to view the shower, they can go online and visit NASA's Ustream video from the telescope in the Marshall Space Flight Center. The Ustream feed will start on Nov. 17 at 6:30 p.m. EST and will continue until the following morning.