\n<\/p>\n
There are good reasons to keep an eye on the Leonid meteors this year.<\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s still one of the coolest things I ever saw. I was in the U.S. Air Force in the 90s, and November 1998 saw me deployed to the dark skies of Kuwait. That trip provided an unexpected treat, as the Leonid meteors hit dramatic storm levels on the morning of the 17th<\/sup>. Meteor came fast and furious towards local sunrise, often lighting up the desert floor like celestial photoflashes in the sky.<\/p>\n Once every 33 years or so, the \u2018lion roars,\u2019 as Leonid meteors seem to rain down from the Sickle asterism of the constellation Leo. And while the last outbreak was centered around the years surrounding 1999, there\u2019s some interesting discussion about possible encounters with past Leonid streams in 2024.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n To be sure, 2024 is otherwise slated to be an off year for the shower. The normal annual maximum for 2024 is expected to occur on Sunday, November 17th<\/sup> at around ~4:00 Universal Time (UT), with an expected Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) of 15-20 meteors per hour seen under ideal conditions. This favors Europe in the early dawn hours.<\/p>\n But there are also a few other streams that may arrive earlier this week and are worth watching for. J\u00e9r\u00e9mie Vaubaillon of the Paris Observatory IMCCE notes that Earth may encounter three older streams from periodic comet 55P\/Tempel-Tuttle. The comet is the source of the Leonids. On a 33.8 year orbit, a meteor shower occurs when the Earth plows headlong into the stream of dust and debris laid down by the comet. <\/p>\nThe Leonids in 2024<\/h2>\n
A Leonid Outburst in 2024?<\/h2>\n