The Leonid meteor is a medium strength shower that has a rare history of reaching high strength activity. The shower should be visible from both hemispheres, but viewers in the northern hemisphere will have an easier time seeing it. The meteors will appear to radiate from a point in the constellation Leo, near the bright star Regulus. Best viewing time midnight to dawn.
Leonids Meteor Shower Radiant. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.The Moon is new this day, and will not hinder the viewing of this meteor shower.
Peak: November 17-18
Active from: November 5th to November 30th
Radiant: 10:08 +21.6° (see image above)
Hourly Rate: 15
Velocity: 44 miles/sec (swift – 71km/sec)
Parent Object: 55P/Tempel-Tuttle
Source: American Meteor Society
Particle Stream of comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle:
1833 Leonids Meteor Storm:
During the 1833 Leonids, hundreds of thousands of meteors were seen per hour! This engraving is a depiction from a first-person account of the 1833 meteor storm by minister Joseph Harvey Waggoner.
1833 Leonids Meteor ShowerHere is a simulation of what the 1833 meteor storm might have looked like:
