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Hot on the heels of August's Perseids and last month's Orionids comes what promises to be the mack-daddy of showers this year: The Leonids. It's scheduled to peak on the evening of the 17th - and by "peak" they really mean it: 500 meteors per hour! Also, a former student just let me know that he saw the most-dramatic fireball he's ever seen last night, nearly a week before the peak. According to NASA, the peak will fall between 21:34 and 21:44 Universal Time. Unfortunately, that's afternoon here in the Central US (those of you living in Asia will have the best show). Fortunately, because this will be such a massive storm, we should get a good show even hours after the peak, when darkness falls.
Click the image to see the story.
To eliminate as much sky-glow as possible, go north of your local city (toward the constellation Leo), so that the city's lights are behind you rather than between you and the show. Try to get dark-adapted as soon as you can after nightfall, so get out there at sunset!
Chris
Click the image to see the story.
To eliminate as much sky-glow as possible, go north of your local city (toward the constellation Leo), so that the city's lights are behind you rather than between you and the show. Try to get dark-adapted as soon as you can after nightfall, so get out there at sunset!
Chris
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