Leonid Meteor Shower 2012 Peaks Early Saturday Morning
This weekend marks the peak of the 2012 Leonid meteor shower.
While the meteor shower will be visible in the night sky for a few nights, the peak will be on Saturday, Nov. 17, at around 3 a.m. EST, according to Space.com.
One of the biggest challenges to view the shower is the moon's location, but this year it shouldn't have an impact. Sky-watchers may get a better show this weekend since the moon will not be visible to take away the glow from the celestial display.
The best chances to see the shower occurs after midnight when the Earth moves directly into the stream of the meteor. The shower can be seen to appear from a point within the Sickle of the constellation Leo, where the shower derives its name from.
The Leonid meteors have a connection to the Tempel-Tuttle comet, which records show was first recorded in 1366. The meteor shower is the visual display of fragments from the comet entering Earth's upper atmosphere.
The annual meteor shower is expected to last a day or two of best viewing before and after the projected peak for early Saturday morning. Get comfortable and bundle up as they'll appear in quick bursts with a long time in between displays. The number of meteors is expected to reach at least over a dozen an hour, making it one of the less dazzling displays in recent years. An average meteor shower has around one meteor seen per minute.
However, according to MSNBC, the meteor shower will be more unique this year as it's expected to have two peaks. The first will be this Saturday and the other will occur on Tuesday morning, Nov. 20.
Many stargazers were treated to the Orionid meteor shower that took place mid-October.
