Leonid meteor shower November 2022: when, where and how to see it

This 2022 is coming to an end but the astronomical calendar still has some wonderful surprises. Is that after the shocking lunar eclipse of November 8 -which closed the eclipse season- the Leonid showers.

​The phenomenon occurs only in this month, which makes them some of the stellar events most awaited of the year. Fortunately, it can be seen from anywhere on the planet.

What are the Leonids, one of the most impressive meteor showers

The Leonid rain It is the most impressive shower of stars – meteors, in fact – that the sky will give us.

In this case, you will achieve yours Maximum point during the early hours of Friday November 18th. At that moment, we will be able to see run between 10 and 15 meteors per hour. Even if it will take place – with less visibility – between the 17th and 21st.

​Abundant, this is a meteor shower that comes from Comet Tempel Tuttle which was discovered in 1865 by the German astronomer Ernst Wilhelm Leberecht Tempel who also discovered 20 other comets.

The Leonidas are within the call Lion sickle, a pattern of stars describing the head and mane of the constellation Leo. They have been famous ever since rain of 1833when between 100,000 and 240,000 meteors shone for nine days.

Their size varies and can vary from a millimeter to several centimetres. Upon entering our atmosphere, they disintegrate as they travel at high speeds, which can range from 20,000 kilometers per hour to 71 kilometers per second.

In this step they leave a relief wake in the sky.

If they are larger and do not disintegrate in the earth’s atmosphere, they begin to be called meteorites.

What is a meteor shower?​

The meteor shower It is an astronomical event in which the irradiation of various meteors can be seen from one point in the night sky.

These meteors are caused by cosmic debris flows called meteoroids that enter the Earth’s atmosphere at extremely high speeds and on parallel trajectories.

The very intense or unusual meteor showers they are known as “Meteor Blast” and “meteor storms”, which produce at least 1,000 meteors per hour, especially, and most notably, the Leonidas.

Like watching the Leonid shower

According to the specialized site terrestrial skythe Leonidas can be enjoyed better than the Taurids (which were seen between the 4th and 5th of this month), not only because more meteors will be seen, but also because their maximum activity will occur when the moon it’s in his last quarter stagewhich means its brightness won’t hinder your vision.

The best way to see a meteor shower it’s from a position that has as clear a view as possible of the entire night sky. For this reason, the ideal is a space in which the sky looks darkaway from the light pollution of city lights. Also, the fewer obstacles that interfere with your vision, the better.

And one more tip see the Leonidas: the ideal is to go to the place from where we will observe it for a few 30 minutes before to start. This way our eyes will get used to the dark.