Lions of the night sky. Big return of the Leonids.
- Magdalena Zubczyńska
- Nov 28
- 2 min read
November can seem boring because of cloudy or cold weather. That can be a great excuse for not looking at the beautiful night sky. Don’t be fooled by those stereotypes anymore! Keep watching the sky between 6 and 30 November. If you’re lucky enough you’ll be able to spot up to 15 colorful meteors per hour.
How do they even appear in our sky?
Every 33 years or so a relatively small Comet 55P which is also called
Tempel Tuttle orbits our Sun in an elliptical pattern. It also moves in the opposite direction than most planets in the Solar System, that’s why we can call its orbit retrograde. When it’s wandering in space like that, it leaves some kind of gift behind. Tempel Tuttle gives us parts of itself so there’s no surprise when little bits of lost rocks and dust appear on its path. When every November Earth crosses that debris trail, those bits enter our planet at an incredible speed of 70 km/s. Particles quickly burn up entering our atmosphere because of friction. That’s the reason we observe the colourful tail of our meteor.
Why are they called Leonids?
That meteor shower got its name from the constellation of Leo which is situated just above the eastern horizon. Why? Interestingly enough, the naming isn’t really that random. In fact, if you look closer at every meteor, it seems to stream from one point near the star Algieba, a really bright double star which you find exactly in the mane of Leo. In astronomy that place is called a radiant
.
How can I spot them?
Remember that forecast of peak dates doesn't have to be helpful. The fact is, the moon can be one of your biggest enemies. Unfortunately, when it’s too bright, it can wash out some faint meteors. Try to go out when it’s below the horizon or during the new moon phase. Go somewhere dark around 2 am, look in the eastern direction. When you spot Leo, you’re ready to go!
Page design: Zofia Kitlas
Bibliography
“Leonid meteor storms: NASA's Leonid Multi-Instrument Aircraft Campaign Homepage” NASA https://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/ Accessed 21 Nov. 2025
Smethurst, Becky. Cosmos: Explore the wonders of the universe. DK. 2024
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