This penultimate month of the year is loaded with astronomical news. Undoubtedly the most anticipated event is the Leonid meteor shower, although two meteor showers always take place in November: the Taurids , with small fragments of Comet Encke (maximum activity on November 4) and the Leonids.
Leonids are characterized by being very bright, extremely fast meteors (they can reach 250,000 kilometers per hour) and they leave a slight green trail in their wake, which persists for several seconds. The meteors will come from the constellation of Leo, since it is the radiant where the remains of comet 55P / Tempel-Tuttle will emerge, which was discovered on December 19, 1865 and has a core of about 2 kilometers in size.
This year, the busiest time, with about 10-15 meteors per hour, will take place on the night of November 17-18 (at 5:00 am) . As always, just stand in a dark place, protected from light pollution and watch the entire sky with patience.
Of course, it will not be until the year 2031 when we have a real meteor storm coinciding with the next step of the Temple-Tuttle perihelion. More than 100,000 meteors per hour could be counted. But for that, we will still have to wait a few years.
Apart from this expected shower of stars, a spectacular supermoon will also accompany us. Our satellite will reach its closest point to Earth (perigee) on November 14, so it will show us 16% larger and 30% brighter than when we see it at its furthest point from Earth (apogee ).
This month’s full moon will be the largest and closest to Earth since 1948.
