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This luminous meteor was seen in the sky above Wrightwood, California, during the Leonid meteor storm of 1966. Storms are more intense than showers, but each year, Leonid meteors cross the night sky in November. .
Getty Images, NASA
Although some may say that the weekend before Thanksgiving is too early for holiday greetings, every year at about this time, Leonid meteor shower offers many opportunities to do so.
This year, rain shooting stars should culminate late Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Also in mid-November, according to NASA, an average of about 15 meteors per hour crossed the night sky during the annual peak shower.
The waterfall will rival a thorny and gibbous moon, so the best time to watch is after sunset but before dawn.
NASA suggests looking for an observation site away from the city or street lights and allow time for your eyes to adapt to the darkness.
"In less than 30 minutes in the dark, your eyes will adapt and you will begin to see meteors," writes the space agency.
In addition, observers must be patient and ready to put themselves at ease, bringing a sleeping bag, blanket or garden chair. They should also check the weather that it does – the clouds can spoil the view and the cold can spoil the experience.
In the night sky, it will appear that the meteors come from the constellation Lion, which gives its name to the shower. However, it is neither their origin nor the best part of the sky to look for them.
"It's actually better to watch the Leonids away from the radiant: they will appear longer and more spectacular from this point of view," notes NASA.
The meteors themselves come from comet 55P / Tempel-Tuttle, which orbits the sun every 33 years. When the comet passes the sun, a trail of debris is created. The Earth then goes through the dust cloud of space every November.
This process means that every 33 years or so, viewers around the world may be confronted with a Leonid-like storm, much higher in intensity than a Leonid-type shower, and capable of producing hundreds of thousands of meteors at the same time. time.
"These explosions of meteor activity are only more visible when the parent object, comet 55P / Tempel-Tuttle, is close to perihelion (closest approach to the sun). Still, it's not the fresh materials we see from the comet, but rather the debris from the previous lifts that are also the densest at the same time, "writes the American Meteor Society.
One of these explosions occurred in 1966, with thousands of meteors flaming in the sky for 15 minutes.
NASA hosts a web page that compiles eyewitness accounts of the 1966 storm and one of those eyewitnesses, Mike Jones, younger at Fort Wolters near Mineral Wells (Texas) at the time , said to have observed dozens of meteors falling in the night. sky every second.
"The 1966 Leonid storm will always be a natural wonder that I will never forget, the night the sky rained fire!" Writes Jones.
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