How to See the 2025 Leonid Meteor Bathe

As a comet travels by the internal photo voltaic system, interactions with the Sun trigger bits of it to fly off, leaving a path of celestial rubble in its wake. In the vacuum of house, cometary ice sublimates from a strong to a gasoline, releasing trapped mud into house. That path of cosmic breadcrumbs stays alongside the comet’s path, even because the comet itself returns to deep house.

Every yr, the Earth flies by the particles discipline, triggering a meteor bathe. Our planet is flying by a kind of particle streams proper now, producing the Leonid meteor bathe within the evening sky.

The historical past of the Leonid meteor bathe

In the yr 868, a then-undiscovered comet shifted into a brand new path, crossing Earth’s orbit for the primary time. Thirty-four years later, astronomers and observers in Egypt and Italy first reported a Leonid meteor storm, with meteors so quite a few observers mentioned they fell like rain. Most years, the Leonid meteor bathe is comparatively gentle, however on occasion it erupts in an unimaginable meteor storm.

Another storm in 1833 helped astronomers determine the place meteors got here from, figuring out their cometary origin. In the nineteenth century, Irish astronomer and writer Agnes Clerke wrote, “On the night of November 12-13, 1833, a tempest of falling stars broke over the Earth… The sky was scored in every direction with shining tracks and illuminated with majestic fireballs. At Boston, the frequency of meteors was estimated to be about half that of flakes of snow in an average snowstorm. Their numbers… were quite beyond counting; but as it waned, a reckoning was attempted, from which it was computed, on the basis of that much-diminished rate, that 240,000 must have been visible during the nine hours they continued to fall.”

The Leonids take their title from the constellation Leo, from which they seem to radiate. In truth, they arrive from the comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, a brief interval comet which orbits the Sun roughly each 33 years.

The comet was discovered independently by Ernst Tempel in 1865 and Horace Tuttle in 1866. It’s a comparatively small comet, with a nucleus about 2.24 miles throughout. Every time it orbits, a brand new path is created and it survives till it will get dispersed into the bigger particles discipline. The 1833 meteor storm was attributable to the path left over from the comet’s earlier shut cross, 33 years earlier. Its final shut strategy was in 1998 and it’ll return to the internal photo voltaic system in 2031. Another meteor storm is anticipated that yr, when observers would possibly have the ability to see 1000’s of meteors per hour.

How to see the 2025 Leonid meteor bathe

The 2025 Leonid meteor bathe is energetic from Nov. 3 to Dec. 2, with a peak in mid-November. You can catch the present for the subsequent couple of weeks, however the perfect time for Leonid stargazing is true now, whereas the Earth is passing by the densest a part of the particle stream.

This yr’s bathe is predicted to be comparatively gentle, with an estimated 15 meteors per hour from a darkish skies website. That’s on high of the same old background charge of roughly 10 meteors per hour. While watching, you’ll be able to inform the distinction between a Leonid and an unaffiliated meteor by tracing its path. If it began within the route of the constellation Leo, then it’s in all probability a Leonid.

The meteor bathe will likely be seen from the northern and southern hemispheres, however visibility is healthier within the north. Fortunately, the Moon is in its waning crescent section, solely about 6 p.c illuminated and it received’t rise till simply earlier than dawn, so it received’t negatively impression your viewing expertise.

You don’t want any particular tools to see a meteor bathe. Small bits of particles, concerning the measurement of a grain of sand, smash into the environment at greater than 150,000 miles per hour, burning up in a vibrant streak of sunshine. All you want are your eyes, darkish skies, and endurance.

If you’re within the northern hemisphere, you’ll need to put together for the chilly. Bring blankets, sleeping luggage, chairs, or the rest you’ll must preserve comfy. Leo rises within the east after midnight and the present continues till the Sun rises. If you don’t get an opportunity to see the Leonid meteor bathe, you’ll have one other likelihood subsequent month. The Geminids will likely be on show for many of December, peaking mid-month with 40 to 50 meteors per hour.

For extra adventures in house, catch The Ark, streaming now on SYFY.