Leonid meteor shower 2009 to peak early Tuesday morning
Sky-watchers in North America can expect to see up to 30 meteors hourly tonight as the annual Leonid meteor shower peaks in the wee hours of Tuesday, Nov. 17. Earth will cross the first meteor-producing stream on this date starting at around 1 a.m. PST, experts predict.
This shower, consisting of debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle, may not be as grand as the Perseids of this past summer (a recent year’s meteor is pictured above, in Joshua Tree National Park), but the show should still be worth watching.
And it’ll be unusual. “A remarkable feature of this year’s shower is that Leonids will appear to be shooting almost directly out of the planet Mars,” said Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office on a NASA blog.
Your best vantage point is a remote, dark place. That means that, yes, you’d do well to pack up your warmest sleeping bag and camp out in the desert or mountains. In the past, Los Angeles Times staff members have recommended Joshua Tree National Park, Red Rock Canyon State Park and Mount Piños.
Even if you’ve got a shorter leash tonight, try to take a short drive away from urban glow and toward the area from which the meteors seem to radiate, according to StarDate Online, an outreach website for the University of Texas’ McDonald Observatory.
“For example, drive north to view the Leonids,” advises the website. “Driving south may lead you to darker skies, but the glow will dominate the northern horizon, where Leo rises.”
— Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times
Photo: Joshua Tree National Park is a consistently great place to sky-watch. Credit: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
17 Comments on “Leonid meteor shower 2009 to peak early Tuesday morning”
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November 16th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
This will be a spectacular show. I hope to get some great pictures for my website…
I love photography especially with my 5d mark II.
November 16th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Nothing is cooler than watching a light show by mother nature while listening to Iron Maiden. I cant wait for tonights big event !
November 16th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
I spotted 18+ and a fireball =) I tried capturing them on my DSLR, using BULB exposure but I had no luck. Will try again tomorrow morning.
Location: Philippines, Southeast Asia
here’s a good estimator tool from NASA: http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/estimator.html
November 16th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
“For example, drive north to view the Leonids,” advises the website. “Driving south may lead you to darker skies, but the glow will dominate the northern horizon, where Leo rises.”
Sorry, this is wrong. Leo rises in the east tonight, around 11PM, and traverses the southern sky. You want dark sky to the south to see the Leonids tonight.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Try using F2.8 20 second exposure 28 mm
November 16th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
this is my first time and I cant wait to see it…..I cant sleep….oh I have a question…what time am i suppose to see them?
November 16th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Don’t go to the MN site; they ask for personal information. Safer to go out in the backyard (as I am doing). Avoid sites that want you to sign up for whatever just to see someone else’s view of something you can see yourself.
November 16th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
will i be able to see it? im in Long Island part of New York
November 16th, 2009 at 11:03 pm
can you see them up in canada?
November 16th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
I was smokeing out back and was reading this earlier wanting to see it but anyways…i was stiten outside and seen a long l spaklie thing with like a head on it.It looked pretty long and i was looking south.I live in arizona mesa and was suprised to see it.I seen this at id say 1215
November 17th, 2009 at 12:16 am
**** ALERT ***** Randall’s post above about the live cam is a hoax - it takes you to a site that takes over your browser! Shame shame Randall
November 17th, 2009 at 1:24 am
stardate.org is down
Very useful for an astronomy site to be down on a night of a meteor shower.
NOT!
Just venting!
November 17th, 2009 at 5:33 am
can we see it from malaysia?
November 17th, 2009 at 7:53 am
Iron Maiden and meteor showers will rule!! WAIT. IRON MAIDEN and ANYTHING rules. Personally, I watched the show listening to Red Sparrowes and Godspeed You Black Emperor
November 17th, 2009 at 8:16 am
Randall’s comment has been removed. Thanks, all.
Susan Derby
November 17th, 2009 at 9:04 am
I was in Camrose, Alberta, Canada last night, it was absolutely beautiful to see. There was lots of shooting stars and the sky was so clear, what a great night to veiw the shower!
November 19th, 2009 at 2:33 am
Saw a beautiful one this morning around 2am as I was leaving work. Very bright white with some blue towards the middle.