Stargazers rejoice: The Leonids are here.
This annual meteor shower lights up the night sky every November and will soon peak on Nov. 16 and 17. Although they happen every year, the Leonids provide undeniably dramatic views and a glimpse into what makes meteor showers so impressive.
For those hoping to catch a glimpse of the Leonids, Jonathan Blazek, an assistant professor of physics at Northeastern University, said it’s helpful to know what exactly they are and where they come from.
Generally speaking, meteor showers are made up of debris left behind by orbiting comets. That material, which comets shed as they pass by the sun and heat up, follows the same orbit as the comet it originated from. It creates a path of debris that eventually intersects and collides with Earth.
“This debris is typically quite small, from roughly a grain of sand to a small rock, and it burns up as it enters the atmosphere, leaving a bright trail that we see as a ‘shooting star,’” Blazek said. “Because of our regular orbit, we experience each meteor shower at the same time each year.”
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NASA/Preston Dyches
