This year ’s Leonid shooting star rain shower peaks during the pre - dawn hours of Saturday , November 17th , and it ’s shaping up to be a beautiful night for stargazing . According to NASA , tonight ’s shower could be one of the best Leonid display in years . Here ’s everything you need to know to spot as many meteor as possible .
Mike Brown ( the astronomer who killed Pluto ) like to say that the Moon is his nemesis , because it washes out his view of celestial bodies in the night sky . And while you may not agree with Pluto ’s demotion , you ’d be saucy to take Brown ’s say-so to heart ; when you ’re looking for meteor , the Moon is your opposition .
Fortunately , the lunar phase angle tonight is a mount crescent ( just a few day preceding - Modern ) , so moonlight should be at a minimum . But city luminance , street lights , theatre lights , flashlights , any lights can be just as bad . Your surroundings will be give off tons of the stuff , as will your personal items — so do n’t blow your vision by curb your indiglo watch out of habit and for god ’s rice beer do n’t depend at your phone .
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If you ’re in the area , go rule a big receptive field . If you ’re in the metropolis , get out if you could . If you ca n’t get out , attempt to find oneself a high-pitched stop .
take all these things into account can make a huge remainder . The images featured here help illustrate the effect that easy befoulment can have on your stargazing experience . The bottom photo was take in Orem , Utah — a major metropolitan area with around 400,000 people . The top photo was take in Leamington , a rural Utah townspeople , about 75 miles southwest of Orem , with a universe of just 217 people . The difference in visibility is staggering . Give it a little forethought , and you could vastly improve your experience ; theClear Sky Chartwebsite has a expectant list of optimal showing locations organized by state , so go crack it out .
Once you ’re all settle down in at your prime viewing spot , give your oculus at least 20 minutes to fully adjust to the shadow . How do you know if your heart have adapt ? A good rule of ovolo says if you may see all the stars in the little dipper ( you should depend 10 ) you ’ll see deal of meteors . If you ca n’t spot all 10 it ’s not a fully grown deal , that ’s just under optimum stipulation .
The best hour for catching the Leonids will be between midnight and break of the day on the morning of Saturday , November 17th , with activity peaking between 3:00 and 5:00 ET .
you could also useNASA ’s Fluxtimatorto assist calculate the ideal time to manoeuver your regard skyward . The Fluxtimator even take your viewing location ( i.e. whether you ’re keep from the city or the countryside ) and the brightness of the Moon into account — just be sure to adjust engagement and fix information accordingly .
As for where to depend , that depends on who you ask . Some mass will tell you to front towards the radiant , where the shooting stars will appear to emanate from ( for the Leonids this is near the constellation Leo ):
Bear in mind , however , that meteoroid ’ trails be given to be shorter the closer they are to the radiant . Your best stake is to likely just look directly up , keeping in mind that meteors can come along anywhere in the sky .
If you ’d like to unite local expert , click here to find your neighborhood astronomy club , and get hold out whether they ’ll be setting up a telescope you may peek through with friends .
Bring a reclining lawn chair , a blanket , some pillows and a coat , as it ’s likely to get parky . Basically , institute whatever you need to get comfortable and still keep your centre on the sky . Do n’t test to stand . Standing and reckon up may seem like a adequate enough estimate , but eventually your neck will get tired , and the second you take your centre off the sky is invariably when the brilliant meteors of the night will go blaze by — it ’s like a code that all shooting star live by .
You should n’t really need a telescope or opera glasses , because you ’ll require to keep your eyes on as much of the night sky as potential . Bring something to snack on , but nothing you have to take care at to eat . Hot chocolate is always nice . And finally , bring some unspoiled party , so you have somebody to “ ooh ” and “ ahh ” with while stargazing on this beautiful autumn night .
Last little steer : should you find yourself in Asia tonight , you have the opportunity to witness an dead ridiculous natural light show . According to Bill Cooke of NASA ’s Meteoroid Environment Office , experts are “ promise 20 - 30 meteors per minute over the Americas . ” Not unfit . But they ’re predicting “ as many as 200 - 300 per hour over Asia . ” Yeah .
Astronomymeteor showerNASAScienceSpace
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