Another year, the peak of the autumn “rain” of Leonid stars falls on the evening of Thursday, November 17, and until dawn on Friday in the northern hemisphere, which includes Greece.

What are Leontids?

The Leontids are a rain of devastation of medium intensity, but at times it looks especially impressive.

It usually brings up to 15 “shooting stars” per hour into the Earth’s sky, but about every 33 years it shows a periodic peak with hundreds or even tens of thousands of meteors per hour. The most recent bright year was 2001.

The stream in question runs from November 6 to 30 and appears to originate from the constellation Leo, from which it takes its name.

These are actually dust particles left by the tail of comet 55P/Temple-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1865 and every November its remnants cross Earth’s orbit. The comet will approach Earth again in 2031.

As the Earth orbits the Sun, the remnants of the comet collide with our planet’s upper atmosphere, ignite due to friction, and form bright balls known as “shooting stars” or meteors.

Birdwatching is always best done in a dark place.

Source: RES-IPE