November and December are   fat pick for meteor shower as Earth move through the dusty junk of multiple comets . The latest is Comet   Tempel - Tuttle , giving us the Leonids , which blossom tonight .

meteor are known as fritter away stars   due to the flashes of light due to the piece of dust and rock   – some as pocket-sized as a metric grain of Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin   – burning up in the atmosphere as Earth prompt through acomet ’s fag end . Meteor elevation are when we move through the dandy routine of atom in a comet stream , creating the lightest , bright , and most abundant shooting asterisk .

2021 may not be a striking year for the Leonids – they famously   have a meteor storm every 33 year , where thousands of shooting stars can be seen an hour , so mark your calendars for 2035 – but you should be capable to see between 10 and 15 meteors an minute tonight . So wrap up warm , find somewhere away from artificial light , and treat yourself to a spot of stargazing .

Although meteor showers are named for the configuration they seem to appear from ( in this case   from the configuration of Leo , the lion ) , in reality , they appear from all directions in the sky so you do n’t need to bet in any particular direction   – just up .

The just prison term to attend for the Leonids is just before dawn after the Moon has set . you could check sentence for your locationhere . As always with shooting mavin detection , find the dark place you’re able to and let your eyes correct for around 15 - 20 minutes . You do n’t require any specialist equipment .

The nearly full Moon may bewilder a wrench in the works , as its brightness level may outshine any blank rocks hurry across the sky . However , if you miss the   cosmic fireworks , you’re able to always head out tomorrow nighttime to observe thelongest fond lunar eclipse in 600 years , a record that wo n’t be broken for another 648 years .

If you ca n’t make tonight , the Leonids actually last from around November 6 - 30 , so will still be visible for the rest of the calendar month . Next up is the Geminids , which last from December 4 - 20 , peaking this year on December 13 - 14 . The Geminids are debate one of the best heavenly light shows of the year , with around 120 - 150 shot star an hour , so mark your calendar for that one . After that , it ’s the Ursids from December 17 - 26 , peak on December 22 . Do n’t worry , we ’ll prompt you next month !