ARE you ready for a good, predictable meteor shower? Then break out your favorite skywatching gear because the LEONID METEOR SHOWER shower is already sparkling the skies.
In the pre-dawn hours on the mornings of November 16th-19th, the offspring of Comet Temple/Tuttle will be flashing through our atmosphere at speeds of up to 72 kilometers per second. You can expect to see dozens of meteors an hour.
ANTINOUS THE MOON GOD will greatly interfere with fainter meteor trails, but don't let that stop you from enjoying early evening observations, or enjoying your morning coffee with a handful of "shooting stars" which will be emanating outward from the constellation of Leo.
The full Moon is going to be a major interference, but we could see a rate of about 20 per hour.
Although the Leonids are regular and occur at the same time every year, the are highly variable from one year to the next ... sometimes producing few meteors and other years lots.
As our Earth passes through the dusty matter left over from a broken-up comet, it may encounter a place where the comet let loose with a large amount of its payload ... or it may pass through an area where the "comet stuff" is thin.
We might even pass through an area which produces an exciting "meteor storm" like the Leonids produced in 1883!
For those in the know, the Leonid meteor shower also made a rather incredible appearance in 1866 and 1867 ... dumping up to 1,000 shooting stars recorded even with a Moon present!
It erupted again in 1966 and in 1998 and produced 3,000 (yes, 3,000!) video recorded meteors during the years of 2001 and 2002.
But remember, human eyes may only be able to detect just a few. And the numbers vary from night to night.
If you want to see the Leonids, it might be good to watch the nights of November 16th through 19th. Instead of just going out one night, you might want to go out twice.
Look for ANTINOUS THE MOON GOD and he will be shooting lion-hunting arrows your way.
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