Tonight's Leonid Meteor Shower, by Joe Lizura

November 17, 2014 - Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I sat down to write a blog post - yikes!  Well a meteor shower is as good a reason as any and tonight's meteor shower should be a good one.

As far as ideal weather conditions go, tonight should be nearly perfect for the Leonid meteor shower, with Santa Ana conditions bringing crisp, clear skies with virtually no humidity and not a cloud in sight for miles.

Now as far as meteor showers go, tonight's Leonid meteor show should be a fairly good one with 10 to 15 meteors an hour.  Now bear in mind that you could see a dozen of them in a fifteen minute period and then wait an hour to see the next ones, so you'll need to be patient.

The key to seeing most of the meteors will be to stay up late, which means between midnight and 5 am, California time.  Also, to maximize your viewing, try to find a wide open area away from city lights if you can.  The best spots in Southern California are usually in the desert or on the tops of the many hills or even in the mountains.

Which way should you look?  If you know the night sky, you would want to face the constellation Leo as that is the direction the meteors will be coming from - it's also why it's named the Leonid meteor show (meteor showers are named after the constellation from which the meteors seem to originate).

The last time I went on a meteor show viewing, about 30 of us had a party at the house until midnight and then we all packed in cars and drove to a nearby park area with lawn chairs and blankets - it was a fun 'meteor shower party'.

If you want to learn more about meteor showers, here is link to Leonid Shower-http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/meteor-shower/leonids.html


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