Leonid meteor shower 2021 – when is it, what time does it peak and where can I see it?

NOTHING quite compares to a stunning display of a meteor shower lighting up the sky above you.

So when is the next Leonid meteor shower and what time does it peak? Here’s everything you need to know…

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When is Leonid meteor shower?

November’s Leonid meteor shower is generally active from 6th through to the 30th.

This year it will peak in the early hours of Wednesday, November 17.

The best time to spot is pre-dawn when light pollution is at its lowest.

Where can I watch it?

Finding a dark sky with low horizons is a good start, but you will need a lot of patience to keep looking up.

It is recommended to watch for the meteor away from the city as possible, as the city lights will light up the sky and make it harder to spot anything.

It’s suggested you start looking for it around 1am…but don’t forget to wrap up warm if you do!

What is the Leonid Meteor Shower?

The Leonid Meteor Shower is one of six significant annual meteor showers.

A meteor shower occurs when many meteoroids (rocks in space) fall towards the Earth after breaking off a comet – a small, icy object in the Solar System which orbits the sun in an irregular fashion, unlike the Earth’s circular orbit.

This particular celestial event is called the Leonids because it appears to come from the Leo star constellation.

It occurs when the Earth passes through debris which has broken away from the comet Tempel-Tuttle – which has a whopping 33-year orbit around the sun.

When the Earth passes through the debris, it falls towards our planet’s surface.

Drag in the atmosphere cause the debris to heat up and burst into fireballs – called meteors.

These burn up before they hit the earth’s surface – causing a streak of hot air which we see as a shooting star.

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In other news, NASA’S top boss has slammed Russia after a missile it fired into one of its own satellites forced the space station to perform an emergency swerve.

A 75-year-old Brit has told of his anger after scammers on WhatsApp fooled him into sending them hundreds of pounds.

Google Chrome users are being warned to delete the browser amid fears highly sensitive data is being harvested.

And, Facebook has announced that it’s changing its name to “Meta”.

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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk