ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Every so often, we like to take you above the day-to-day weather and into the night sky. This week’s potential highlight is the Leonid meteor shower, named for its radiant point, which is the apparent point of origin, near the constellation Leo. That means the general area to watch is the eastern horizon, though meteors can appear anywhere across the sky.
The Leonids originate from the debris trail of Comet 55P/Tempel–Tuttle. As the comet orbits the Sun, it leaves behind a stream of dust, ice, and rocky particles. Each November, Earth passes through this debris field. What we often call “shooting stars” are actually tiny fragments from the comet burning up as they enter our atmosphere.
The meteor shower reaches its peak overnight, especially after midnight. With the Moon only about nine percent illuminated this year, skies could be dark enough to spot 10 to 20 meteors per hour, assuming conditions cooperate…