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This will be the last year we see an impressive display of the Leonids meteor shower for some time. SkyWatch will be providing its subscribers full coverage of this exciting event. Book mark this page, and come back for more information on this year's Leonids.
The Leonids, like all all meteor showers, are the result of a comet passing through or near the Earth's orbit in this case Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Every 33 years the comet Tempel-Tuttle crosses the Earth's orbit, leaving a trail of dust. When the Earth later crosses this point, the dust left by Tempel-Tuttle slams into the Earth's atmosphere and each tiny dust particle creates a streak of light - a meteor - as it burns up high in the Earth's atmosphere.
The year 2002 will most likely be the last time in at least several decades there will a large showing of Leonid meteors and that we have an excellent chance to see a really impressive Leonids meteor shower.
Since a meteor shower occurs when the Earth crosses the path of a comet and this happens at the same time of the year for every year, meteor showers are annual events. The best predictions for this year's Leonids is that there will be two peaks for this year's shower.
For Europe: November 19 04:00 UT or GMT
For North America: November 19 10:00-11:00 UT or GMT
The "radiant" (the point in the sky which meteors appear to come from) of the Leonids is naturally enough in the constellation of Leo. The specific point is right in Leo's sickle shaped head. Try not to focus on a single point in the sky. You will hopefully see meteors coming from that general area.
There is a fly in the ointment of this years Leonids - a full Moon. The best time to see a meteor shower is on a clear, dark and moonless night. And we're not going to have that this year. But there is no reason to despair. The Leonids tend to be very bright and we might get to see even fireballs which are very bright, slow moving meteors. The Moon will definitely cut down on the number of Leonids that are observered, but it still might be a very impressive show.
And there are things that can be done:
Baseball cap: Wear a baseball cap and position the visor to help block out the Moon. If the Moon's light is not shining directly in your eyes, it will be possible to see many more meteors.
Building: Stand near a building that blocks the sight of the Moon, but allows you to see the area of Leo. This can be very effective for those of us looking at the Leonids from within a city. You might want to go out the night before and scout for good locations to view the sky near buildings.
Cloud: Hope for a strategically placed cloud? This is of course impossible to plan and normally you don't want clouds on a night you're looking for meteors, but a small cloud that covers just the Moon might give you a few minutes of dark sky.