Leonid Meteor Shower 2009 | Schedule on Television Today -- The Leonids are ultra famous because of amazing meteor storms in the past. The Leonids generally have been some of the most brilliant meteor showers over the years and take their name from the position of their radiant near the constellation Leo the Lion; this is because the meteors seem to materialize from that point in the sky. I would love to tell you that this year the Leonids will be a meteor storm, but meteor showers are one of the most unpredictable events. One of the most notable Leonids Meteor Showers was categorized as a meteor storm, which occurred in November of 1833 where an estimated one hundred thousand meteors bombarded the Earth’s atmosphere per hour. I’m not stating that you will see a shower of such monstrous proportions like those of the past, but I can assure you that a Leonid Meteor Shower is always worth viewing. The Leonids of 2009 may produce over 100 meteors per hour and that’s pretty strong activity.
The ginormous hourly rate of the past was caused by a direct impact with the dust particles from the 55P/Temple-Tuttle Comet, but because of a disturbance of the gravitational pull of the planet Jupiter we may not see such activity for 50 or 60 years. The last time the shower displayed incredible displays in the sky was in 2001 and was virtually unpredicted. The Leonid Meteor Shower started November 13 and will last until November 20, and will peak in intensity early morning on November 17.
The best time to view the Leonid meteor shower will be after 1:30 am EST and before sunrise. The meteors will hopefully be visible because the moon will be entering it’s new moon phase just in time for the meteor shower.
The ginormous hourly rate of the past was caused by a direct impact with the dust particles from the 55P/Temple-Tuttle Comet, but because of a disturbance of the gravitational pull of the planet Jupiter we may not see such activity for 50 or 60 years. The last time the shower displayed incredible displays in the sky was in 2001 and was virtually unpredicted. The Leonid Meteor Shower started November 13 and will last until November 20, and will peak in intensity early morning on November 17.
The best time to view the Leonid meteor shower will be after 1:30 am EST and before sunrise. The meteors will hopefully be visible because the moon will be entering it’s new moon phase just in time for the meteor shower.
According to NASA, the most activity at 200-300 meteors per hour NASA has stated, but other astronomers have predicted that it could be as high as 500 an hour during the peak.
You could use the NASA’s Fluximator tool to check the Leonid meteor shower peak in your area. Just enter your area or time zone and it will compute the best meteor shower viewing time for you.
The Leonids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Tempel-Tuttle. The Leonids get their name from the location of their radiant in the constellation Leo: the meteors appear to stream from that point in the sky. The 2009 display peaking on November 17 may produce more than 500 meteors an hour. This is not enough to rate it as a meteor storm which has over 1,000 meteors an hour.
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You could use the NASA’s Fluximator tool to check the Leonid meteor shower peak in your area. Just enter your area or time zone and it will compute the best meteor shower viewing time for you.
The Leonids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Tempel-Tuttle. The Leonids get their name from the location of their radiant in the constellation Leo: the meteors appear to stream from that point in the sky. The 2009 display peaking on November 17 may produce more than 500 meteors an hour. This is not enough to rate it as a meteor storm which has over 1,000 meteors an hour.
