COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL)- The Leonid Meteor Shower is set to peak this week. The shower will be the most active the night of November 16th and 17th (or the morning of 17th and 18th). The Leonids are one of the major meteor showers that occur every year. Despite it being a major shower, meteor rates have been as low as 3 meteors per hour.
What is the Leonids Known For? The Leonids are known for their bright fireball meteors. According to NASA, fireballs are caused by “larger particles of cometary material.”
Roughly every 33 years, the Leonids give off a “meteor storm” where hundreds of thousands of meteors can be seen per hour. The last Leonid meteor storm was in 2002.
The Comet: The Leonids are caused by the comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. The comet Tempel-Tuttle was discovered in 1865 and again in 1866 by Ernst Tempel and Horace Tuttle, giving it its name. It takes the comet 33 years to orbit the sun, this
Viewing Forecast: We will not be tracking any overcast conditions across Alabama and Georgia, so the weather will be great. The best time to view the meteor shower is from midnight to 2am. Head away from city lights and look toward the east.
Unfortunately, the viewing rate is expected to be low this year, but you could still see a few meteors per hour…