INDIANA – Stay up late Friday to watch the Leonid meteor shower. This dazzling, annual phenomenon began on November 3 and will continue until December 2, but the peak viewing period will be this weekend.
The radiant point of the meteor shower will be around the constellation Leo. Look towards the east skyline after midnight as the radiant rises. It will be highest in the sky right around dawn.
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Clouds should drop off in central Indiana during this time frame after rain is in the forecast during the day on Friday.
This year, stargazers may have an especially good view of the Leonids, as very little moonlight will interfere with visibility. During the meteor shower’s peak, the moon will be just 23 percent full, as it approaches its first quarter phase on November 20, according to the American Meteor Society.
Contributed / Ed Sweeney (Navicore), CC BY-SA 3.0
The Leonid meteor shower is active each November as Earth passes through the debris field left by the comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle.
The comet is about the size of Manhattan, measuring roughly 2.24 miles across. It orbits the sun once every 33 years, leaving a trail of dust and rocks in its wake. When Earth passes through that trail during its journey around the sun, some of those particles enter the atmosphere and burn up in dazzling streaks across the sky. This is why meteors are often referred to as “shooting stars.”
