By WEATHER WORLD on Nov 17, 2011, at 8:00 AM Updated on 11/16 at 4:30 PM
WEATHER WORLD
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A meteor from the Leonid meteor shower streaks across the eastern sky above the windmills and landscape off of Old Altamont Pass, early Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2002, in Livermore, Calif. (AP Photo/San Francisco Examiner, Dino Vournas)
If you can stand a little bit of cold, tonight would be a really good night to do so.
The
Leonid meteor shower—one of the most reliable of the year—is set to peak around midnight.
This shower occurs when the Earth passes through the trail of the 55P/Tempel-Tuttle comet. It’s almost a direct hit on Earth, with the meteors hitting our atmosphere nearly head-on at about 44 miles per second, creating blue and green fireballs and long dust trails.
I absolutely love meteor showers. There are few things more calming yet more exciting than lying on a blanket outside and waiting and watching for the bright streaks to light up the sky.
Now that I have you excited and planning your trip out to the darkness of rural Osage County for the best viewing, let me ruin your plans (Hey, this is the Tulsa World weather blog. Have you never read it before? We are all about bad news here).
- The shower turns into a spectacular storm every 33 years or so. The last one was in 1999, when there were more than a thousand in an hour. This year’s peak can expect about 10 to 20 an hour.
- The moon will be starting its last quarter tonight, so it will be brighter than is ideal for shower watching.
- The shower will also originate about 14 degrees from that bright moon, making them even more difficult to find. The shower’s radiant point is in the sickle asterism in Leo (hence the name, Leonids…)
This is the sky about midnight. Notice where the constellation Leo is in relation to the Moon and Mars. That is the location from where the meteors will radiate.
The good news for us is that the weather will actually
cooperate quite nicely, aside from the cold. The National Weather Service is calling for mostly clear skies Thursday night with a low around 35.
I would still recommend doing what you can to see at least one. Get away from city lights and other light pollution, face either north or south (you’ll see the streaks across the sky from the radiant point. Plus, looking at the moon will ruin your night vision), pack the Thermos with hot chocolate or whatever, sit back and wait.
Even if you see only one, it will be thrilling.
--Jerry Wofford
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