The Leonid meteor shower will be visible above Canada this weekend

Nov 17 2018, 12:08 am

Catching a glimpse of a meteor shower is definitely something many people want to experience at least once in their lifetime.

And for some lucky Canadians, that could become a reality this weekend.

According to Space, the “famous” Leonid meteor shower will reach its peak and will be visible early Sunday morning (November 18).

Earth will pass through the thickest part of the Leonid swarm at 7 pm EST (2300 GMT) on November 17, however, Space reports the best time to look for the meteor shower will be during the after-midnight hours on Sunday morning.

meteor shower

Leonid Meteor Shower/The Weather Network

According to The Weather Network, from November 6 to 30, Earth passes through a stream of debris left behind by Comet Tempel-Tuttle.

As Earth gets deeper into the stream, the number of meteors visible in the sky increases and reaches its peak on November 17.

“As all of these meteors can be traced back to a point of origin in the sky that’s inside the constellation Leo, this is called the Leonid meteor shower,” says The Weather Network’s Scott Sutherland.

While most other meteoroid streams only contain “minuscule bits of dust and ice,” the stream for Leonids also contain many gravel-sized bits.

Sutherland says that when these pebbles hit the Earth’s atmosphere, they produce very bright meteors in the night sky, known as fireballs.

And while Leonids showers tend to be fairly minor, there are typically between 10 and 15 meteors per hour. Be sure to check online to see when it will be visible in your part of the country.

Remember, optimal viewing will be just after midnight from a dark location far away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Leo but can appear anywhere in the sky.

So make sure to keep an eye out!

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