Have you ever heard of the myth that if you make a wish above a shooting star your wish will come true? When I was young I always see this in the movies and dreamed that I could witness the meteor showers instead so I can make a dozen of wishes. Haha. Am I foolish? Or am I not the only one with this thought.
"Wake up Ivy! You need not dream no more because the Leonid Meteor Shower is here to light up your tuesday night!" What? Are you for real?
Yes, the King of Meteor Shower, the Leonid, is going to peak on 17 November 2009 where the rates may race up to 300 per hour! It is forecasted that the shower should produce a mild but pretty sprinkling of meteors over North America followed by a more intense outburst over Asia. Do you know that Leonid showers come approximately every 33 years and today it is said that this could be one of the best Leonid showers in years because the Leonids will be shooting almost directly out of the planet Mars.
Some of you might be wondering how did meteor shower came about? What is it made out of? How does it look like? The meteor showers happen when Earth plows through a trail of debris left in the wake of a comet orbiting the sun. When a comet gets close to the sun, melting ice releases pieces of dust that are no larger than grains of sand.
Every year the earth crosses paths with the orbiting debris and as these small particles collide with the Earth’s atmosphere, they burn up and create a startling streak of light across the sky like fireballs shooting down from the sky.
Meteor-watchers in North America will be expecting the meteor shower at 5:00pm observing 20 to 30 meteors per hour. The very strong display will favor those living across most of central and eastern Asia at 5:00 am where the meteor rates are expected to be at 200 to 300 per hour.
Tips to meteor-watchers:
- Set ur alarm clock
- Go to a nice dark place (e.g. beach)
- Bundle up a warm drink
- Crane your neck skyward
- No binoculars or telescopes needed
- Relax and enjoy the show together
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