The Earth (and Moon) will that night pass through a dust trail laid down by Comet Temple-Tuttle in 1499. You won't be able to see meteoric impacts on the Moon this time; most will hit on the far side and the few that impact the visible side will be in sunlight.
The much better show will be on November 19th as Earth passes through Comet Temple-Tuttle's 1533 dust trail. This one will be best for East Coast, Southeast, and Great Lakes regions in the USA, and for the Caribbean and northern South America. The West Coast will get a weaker show, but it still will be worth checking out for meteor fans. The Moon will be a thin crescent so it will not be a factor. It probably will not impact the dust stream, so again no lunar explosions to watch for.
| US, Canadian, and Mexican Local Times of Second Peak on November 19 |
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| Eastern Standard Time: 2:28 a.m. (includes Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, Indianapolis, Montreal, New York, Philadelphia, Miami, Toronto, Washington DC) Central Standard Time: 1:28 a.m. (includes Chicago, Houston, Kansas City, Little Rock, Mexico City, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, St. Louis) Mountain Standard Time: 12:28 a.m. (includes Albuquerque, Calgary, Cheyenne, Denver, Edmonton, Phoenix, Santa Fe) Pacific Standard Time: 11:28 p.m. (includes Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle) |
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As always, get AWAY from city lights if possible! If you're in an urban area along the Atlantic Ocean or western shore of a very large lake, go out to the shore and face the water. Leo (thus, Leonids) is an easy constellation to pick out. Its head looks like a backwards question mark with Regulus as the bright point. Here is where the meteors will appear to originate. Don't look directly at the radiant; the meteor trails there will be greatly foreshortened by perspective. Instead look up higher to see them flash by.
The Leonids are the fastest meteor stream known; they impact Earth's atmosphere at a whopping 160,000 MPH. That's a head-on impact! |
