Leonid Meteor Shower 2021: How, Where To Watch This Most Historical Event Soon

One of the finest ways to appreciate the grandeur of the night sky is to go stargazing. Look up this November to observe one of the most historically significant events of all time: the Leonid Meteor Shower.

From November 6 to 30, the meteor shower will pour down on Earth's atmosphere, culminating on late November 16 and early November 17.

NDTV said 10 to 15 meteors might usually be seen in an hour during the peak. However, that number is expected to be in the single digits this year. Leonids have some of the fastest meteors, with some reaching speeds of up to 44 miles per second (71 kilometers per second).

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Photo dated 18 November 1999 shows a Leonid meteor storm over the Azrak desert, 90km east of Amman. The storm packed up to some 1,500 meteros per hour visible with the eye. The Leonids - so called because they appear in the sky in the region of the constellation of Leo - are a stream of minute dust particles trailing behind the Tempel-Tuttle comet, which is visible from earth every 33 years.

Leonids Meteor Shower: Where It Came From

Inverse said Meteor showers are the fragments of comets and asteroids that have broken off. These rocky entities are made up of frozen gas, dust, and other materials, some of which may be traced back to the Solar System's origin. As these space pebbles approach the Sun, the star's strong gravitational attraction may weaken them, causing them to split apart.

Every year, when the Earth circles around the Sun, the dust produces a trail that the Earth travels through. Some of this material mixes with the Earth's atmosphere. It disintegrates, resulting in the blazing streaks we see in the sky and refer to as meteors.

Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, which circles the Sun every 33 years, is the source of the Leonids. The comet was found in 1865 and had a diameter of 2.24 miles.

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Leonids Will Not Cause Meteor Storm This Year

The Leonids have produced some of the most spectacular meteor showers ever observed. They've been a full-fledged meteor "storm" in certain years.

According to EarthSky, the 1833 Leonid meteor storm had rates as high as 100,000 meteors per hour. No such storm is predicted this year, USA Today said.

Unfortunately, in 2021, we will have to contend with a waxing gibbous moon, making fainter meteors challenging to spot.

Leonoid Meteor Shower: Where, How to Watch

The optimum time to see the shower, according to People, is shortly before dawn. If possible, travel out of town to a location where the city lights won't blot out the stars and where it's the darkest to obtain the finest view of the shower.

The origin, or point from which they appear to emanate, is where meteors in yearly showers receive their names. The Leonid meteors will appear throughout the sky in all directions.

Every year at the same time, the Leonids meteor shower occurs. On November 17, 2020, the final Leonid meteor shower will peak. The Leonids meteor shower in 2022 will peak on the night of November 17 and 18, but will be visible from November 6 to November 30, 2022.