This Friday-Saturday ... find a dark spot, bundle up, set up the lounge chair, point it south-eastish and get ready for a show!
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from science.howstuffworks |
The Leonids meteor shower gives us a celebration every November 17th ... and this year, the skinny moon won't wash them out (hopefully, the clouds won't either!). They are not predicting a meteor storm this year, so expect 15-20 meteors per hour ... enough to keep you interested, not so many that it becomes impossible to count. And there are no mosquitoes (unlike the Perseids in August)!
Meteors are the debris from comets that have passed through our solar system. Earth's orbit passes through the debris cloud once a year and we get a show from the dust!
So, dress like it's 20 degrees colder, set up after midnight (preferably between 2 and 5am), and enjoy.
Email Ms.Levy with your count ... how many meteors did you see? Did you see any fireballs? Did any meteors leave trace clouds? Let me know if you hear any owls, coyotes or any other denizens of the night. (why are are never denizens of the day?!)
Good source info =
http://earthsky.org/tonight/moonless-nights-for-november-leonid-meteors-in-2012