On the night of November 17-18 , the Leonid Meteor Shower , which makes its appearance in the sky every autumn, will reach its maximum splendor. The rate of meteors will be around 15 objects per hour, although this year the Moon will make observation difficult since more than half of its surface will be illuminated. The phenomenon can be observed until November 21.
The Leonids are part of the r these left by Comet 55P / Tempel-Tuttle as it passes through Earth's orbit. It was discovered in 1865 and it has been calculated that it has a period of revolution of approximately 33 years (the last one started in 1999), which translates into an especially large meteor shower (more than 1000 meteors per hour) each time it is fulfilled. this cycle.
In a meteor shower, the vast majority of meteors follow a similar path in a certain direction. The direction in the sky from which the meteors appear to emerge is called radiant, and it usually coincides with a particular constellation, which is the one that gives its name to the meteor shower in question. In this case it is the constellation of Leo .
