‘Leonids Meteor Shower’- Important Facts

The annual Leonids Meteor Shower has started and will be active between November 6 and 30, 2021.

Highlights

• The Meteor Shower will reach its peak on November 17.
• Peak time of the meteor shower comes when Planet Earth passes through densest part of the debris.
• On November 17, viewers from earth will witness bits of cosmic debris. It will appear like a display of fireworks in the sky.

Which debris forms meteor shower?

The debris forming this meteor shower originates from small comet named “55P/Tempel-Tuttle” in the constellation Leo. It takes 33 years to orbit around the sun.

What are Leonids?

The Leonids are considered as a major shower, featuring the fastest meteors. The meteors usually travel at speeds of 71 km per second. The rates are usually as low as 15 meteors per hour. Leonids are also called as fireballs meteors, because of their bright colour and earth-gazer meteors because they streak close to the horizon. Friction between meteorite and molecule present in Earth’s atmosphere creates light. This is why a meteor is called shooting star.

Meteor storm

A Leonid shower turns into a meteor storm, every 33 years.  During Meteor storm, hundreds to thousands of meteors are observed every hour. A Leonid storm is called as meteor storm when around 1,000 meteors are visible per hour. Last meteor storm took place in 2002.

When are showers visible?

Such showers are visible on any cloudless night, when Moon is not that bright. In order to see showers, the viewing location should have no light pollution.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2021