Watch Leonid Meteor shower crackle in the sky on Monday
One would be able to witness the spectacle of about 15-20 shooting stars every hour during November 17 and 18. The best way to observe the shower is to go out during early morning hours, lie back and wait for the occasionally shooting star.
THE COUPLE of days, skywatchers can see the night sky light up with Leonid Meteor Shower expected to peak on Tuesday, November 17. One would be able to witness the spectacle of about 15-20 shooting stars every hour during this period.
CB Devgun of SPACE, a Delhi based NGO sad that a shower of shooting stars is something that happends only a few times. Leonids is one of these and also the most prominent of all. Because of this, the rest of the stars appear as circular arcs. He said that Leonids are a prolific meteor shower, which is associated with comet Tempel-Tuttle.
One can see the showers from November 14 to November 21. This year, the time the shower would peak would be on the night of November 17 and November 18 morning, at around 3 am IST. He said that as the moon won't be present and because of the presence of Mars near the radiant will make it look more spectacular and worth watching as some of the meteors from Leonids would ne seen as if are from Mars.
Devgun said that a shooting star is basically a meteor and these can be seen any night. It is called the meteor shower when the number is large. However, it lasts for just a fraction of second before they are gone. He said the best way to observe the shower is to go out during early morning hours, lie back and wait for the occasionally shooting star.
The shower can be seen every year around November 17, when the Earth moves through the Leonid Meteor stream that has solid particles known as meteroroids, ejected by the comet as it passes by the Sun. However, the entire meteor streaks are parallel, they seem to originate from a single point in the sky. Leonids got its name, as a result of this from the location of their radiant in the constellation Leo.
Devgun said that most Leonids, which are visible are between 1 mm and 1 cm in diameter. Giving an example he said that a Leonid meteor hardly visble with a naked eye in a dark sky is caused by a meteoroid of 0.5 mm in diameter and weights only about 0.00006 grams. Leonid meteoroids travel at a speed of 71 km per second (213 times the speed of sound) before entering the Earth's atmosphere.
Devgun said that most Leonids, which are visible are between 1 mm and 1 cm in diameter. Giving an example he said that a Leonid meteor hardly visble with a naked eye in a dark sky is caused by a meteoroid of 0.5 mm in diameter and weights only about 0.00006 grams. Leonid meteoroids travel at a speed of 71 km per second (213 times the speed of sound) before entering the Earth's atmosphere.
One can see the showers from November 14 to November 21. This year, the time the shower would peak would be on the night of November 17 and November 18 morning, at around 3 am IST. He said that as the moon won't be present and because of the presence of Mars near the radiant will make it look more spectacular and worth watching as some of the meteors from Leonids would ne seen as if are from Mars.
Devgun said that a shooting star is basically a meteor and these can be seen any night. It is called the meteor shower when the number is large. However, it lasts for just a fraction of second before they are gone. He said the best way to observe the shower is to go out during early morning hours, lie back and wait for the occasionally shooting star.
But one must ensure that the area should have minimum light pollution. He suggests that one should plan to start the watch at around 1am IST. By this time, the LEO constellation (radiant of Leonids) will be quite high above the horizon. Also the hour before dawn is the best time for watching the meteors.
Lastly he said that one should count the number of shower and non shower meteors one sees. Shower meteors will appear to come from the Leo constellation. After tracing the path of the meter in the backward direction across the sky, if the line comes near the radiant then it is a shower meteor and if the line goes elsewhere it is a non shower meteor.
So watch out the night sky light up with the Leonid Meteor Shower on November 17 and 18.
Lastly he said that one should count the number of shower and non shower meteors one sees. Shower meteors will appear to come from the Leo constellation. After tracing the path of the meter in the backward direction across the sky, if the line comes near the radiant then it is a shower meteor and if the line goes elsewhere it is a non shower meteor.
So watch out the night sky light up with the Leonid Meteor Shower on November 17 and 18.
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