2012 Leonid Meteor Shower Peaks This Weekend

By Nancy Atkinson - November 16, 2012 04:09 AM UTC | Observing

Early Leonids captured on Nov. 14, 2012 in Ohio. Credit: John Chumack

The annual Leonid Meteor Shower has already begun, according to astrophotographer John Chumack in Ohio, who said he captured a dozen or so via his night sky video cameras earlier this week. But the peak for the Leonids this year is expected to be this weekend, and the best viewing should be during the hours before dawn on November 17, according to the editors of

StarDate magazine

at the University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory

Every year about this time Earth passes through the debris field left by Comet Tempel-Tuttle. The tiny grains of dust enter Earth's atmosphere and burn up, sometimes leaving glowing dust trails, which we call meteors.

Graphic via StarDate magazine of the Leonid meteor shower.

If you wait until the hours before dawn this weekend, the Moon will be below the horizon, so its light will not interfere with seeing meteors. Astronomers says that with clear skies, viewers can expect to see about 15 to 20 meteors per hour, though the shower has proved highly variable in recent years.

Though the meteors will appear to originate from the constellation Leo, which will be in the eastern sky in the early morning hours, the meteors can be seen in all parts of the sky.

If you capture any images of the meteor shower, share them with Universe Today by uploading them on our

Flickr group

or send us your images by

email

(this means you're giving us permission to post them). Please explain what's in the picture, when you took it, the equipment you used, etc.

Here's another look at John Chumack's early Leonids.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com