The Leonids could bring 10–12 meteors an hour before dawn on Wednesday, November 18, if weather and viewing conditions are favorable. That count assumes favorable weather and viewing conditions, so your own tally may be lower.
According to information from Svábhegyi Csillagvizsgáló, reported by MTI, the shower’s activity is forecast to peak around 12:45 a.m. on November 18. The observatory recommends watching in the early-morning hours, when the radiant sits higher above the horizon.
This apparent point of origin, called the radiant, lies in Leo. In the observatory’s viewing schedule, the constellation rises in the east after 10 p.m. on November 17. By 5 a.m., it will be roughly 60 degrees above the southeastern horizon. The half moon sets at 11:15 p.m., so its light won’t interfere during the second half of the night.
The Leonids reach their annual peak in mid-November and produce the year’s fastest meteors, according to the observatory. At about 71 kilometers per second through Earth’s atmosphere, they often appear as brief, bright flashes rather than lingering streaks.
That speed comes from a head-on encounter. The shower originates from comet 55P/Tempel–Tuttle, which takes 33 years to orbit the Sun and travels in the opposite direction to the planets. Because of this retrograde path, Earth’s orbital speed of 30 kilometers per second adds to the incoming meteoroids’ roughly 41 kilometers per second, producing an encounter speed of 71 kilometers per second.
Each time the comet passes closest to the Sun, it releases a cloud of dust particles, and Earth regularly crosses that cloud’s path. When the particles enter our atmosphere, they become visible as meteors.
You don’t need a telescope for this skywatching session: the observatory says the Leonids are best observed with the naked eye. Choose a spot away from urban light pollution, dress warmly for the predawn cold, and look high in the sky, roughly toward the south. A dark location after moonset provides the conditions behind the hourly forecast, but doesn’t promise a meteor every few minutes.
