~ St. Maarten’s Backyard Astronomy for November 17 & 18 ~
Sun rises at 6:19am
Sun sets at 5:5pm
Lunar phase: 2nd quarter, waxing gibbous
Moon rises at 2:02pm, Saturday
Moon sets at 1:15am, Sunday
It’s another meteor shower weekend! This time, it’s the famous Leonid meteor shower and it’s expected to be at its best in the wee hours of Sunday, November 18, aka: Either stay up late or get up tomorrow before dawn. I suppose you could do both…
To see meteors, your best bet is any time after the bright gibbous moon sets, of course, but before the sun begins to light the sky and dissolve the stars.
The Leonids are famous for producing meteor storms when the comet is in our planet’s solar system neighbourhood, but that is not the case this year, and no meteor storm is expected. The prediction is modest, only about 10 to 15 meteors per hour for this weekend’s Leonids.
The radiant point of the Leonid shower is Leo, the Lion. You can recognize him as a sort-of “backwards wuestion mark.” At sunset, he is below our eastern horizon, but as night progresses and the Earth turns, Leo, along with the meteor shower’s radiant point will climb high in the sky.
By around 1:00am, the Leonid meteors will begin to be visible. Great spots to catch the show at that time: Guana Bay, Le Galion Beach or Point Blanche.
As the constellation Leo the Lion reaches its highest point in the night sky, around 3:00am, you’ll see more meteors from then until daybreak. The higher that Leo appears in your sky, the more meteors you’re likely to see.
Just remember, you don’t have to locate a meteor shower radiant to watch the meteor shower. The meteors will appear in all parts of the sky. But if you trace the Leonid meteors backward, they appear to come from the constellation.
Don’t feel like playing the night owl? All is not lost, because the evening hours can be the best time to catch a rare earthgrazer – a slow-moving and long-lasting and very bright meteor. These rarities are amazing; they travel horizontally across the sky – guaranteed to make everyone’s jaws drop.
Other points of interest? Keep appreciating the Winter Circle, which is dominated by Orion. This group of brilliant stars forms a circle across these winter nights. Just outside the circle are the Pleiades, a tiny but easy to find cluster which many people enjoy gazing at. Use the line of Orion’s Belt; send your eyes from there right across the circle to the “V” of Taurus the Bull. Continue to look in that same direction, about the same distance again, and there you’ll see the hazy and petite group known as the “Seven Sisters.”
Mars is also bright, shining with a reddish light; and high in the sky this weekend, having been visited by the crescent moon last week. Keep looking up!
Thank you for keeping up with the Night Sky articles. If you are out later on in the week, each star rises about four minutes earlier each day than written here, and the moon rises 50 minutes later. Night Sky is researched and compiled by Lisa Davis-Burnett. Earthsky.org is a key resource for information and images. Questions or comments? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
