Leonid meteor shower: When, where and how to catch a glimpse of the shooting stars

The Leonid meteor shower is acceptable to airy up the night's entity successful the aboriginal hours of Friday.

Those surviving successful the southbound and westbound of the UK volition person the champion accidental of catching a glimpse of the shooting stars, with clearer skies forecast.

However, cloudy and rainy conditions crossed bluish areas mean a sighting of the yearly lawsuit is unlikely.

The champion clip to spot the Leonids, 1 of the much prolific yearly meteor showers, volition beryllium from midnight to dawn.

The Leonids are usually accelerated and bright. The flashes of airy are created erstwhile fragments of Comet Tempel-Tuttle - known arsenic meteoroids erstwhile they are successful Space - participate the Earth's ambiance astatine implicit 45 miles (72km) per 2nd and make friction successful the air, causing them to pain up and permission a agleam momentary streak crossed the sky.

Each twelvemonth the Earth passes done the debris near down by Tempel-Tuttle and arsenic a effect we get the Leonids. In crook they got their names due to the fact that they look to watercourse from the caput of the constellation Leo, the Latin connection for lion.

Where tin I spot the Leonids?

You'll request wide skies to spot the meteors and they won't conscionable beryllium disposable successful the UK, but crossed overmuch of the bluish hemisphere.

They'll besides beryllium disposable crossed each parts of the sky, truthful wide unfastened spaces without airy contamination volition springiness you the champion accidental of catching a glimpse.

The Moon volition lone beryllium 35% illuminated overnight into Friday, meaning it won't beryllium excessively agleam and truthful it'll beryllium easier to spot immoderate shooting stars.

Don't interest if you don't negociate to spot them successful the aboriginal hours of Friday. Although this is erstwhile they're astatine their best, they tin beryllium spotted from 6 to 30 November.

No. The show volition beryllium disposable to the bare eye.

Every 33 years Tempel-Tuttle comes arsenic adjacent arsenic it volition to Earth erstwhile it returns to the interior star strategy - the 8 planets including our ain and the asteroid belt.

"As it approaches the Sun it begins to vigor up, releasing particulate and gases from its surface," explains Jake Foster, an astronomer astatine the Royal Observatory Greenwich.

"This replenishes the comet's way with a caller proviso of debris, starring to aggravated meteor storms with a greater hourly complaint of shooting stars than usual.

"Since Comet Tempel-Tuttle won't instrumentality to the interior star strategy until 2031, nary meteor tempest is to beryllium expected tonight."

In 1833, the Leonid meteor tempest reported a highest of 100,000 shooting stars per hour.

Friday volition spot a much mean shower.