Meteor shower to brighten night sky if the clouds stay away

The Leonids, an annual meteor shower that occurs as the Earth passes through the debris of Comet Tempel-Tuttle, is expected to put on a decent show this week as it moves toward peak viewing next Tuesday and Wednesday.

“It could be quite stunning flashes in the sky, but they are only predicting 12 an hour,” said Scott Severson, a Sonoma State University astronomy professor.

Others predict as many as 20 to 30 meteors will streak across the sky every hour, still far fewer than the 2002 meteor storm when there were thousands per hour.

Predicting the density of the debris field can be difficult, however, and no one knows for sure what it will be like when the show peaks Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

“Meteor showers are like comets (which) are like cats. They have tails and they do damn well what they please,” said Ed Megill, director of the Santa Rosa Junior College planetarium.

The other issue is the weather.

Skies are expected to be partly cloudy during the weekend and into next week, said meteorologist Diane Henderson of the National Weather Service in Monterey.

“There's always next year,” Henderson said, referring to sky-watching.

Meteors are common occurrences and have always held an attraction, Severson said.

“It's a visceral connection to the skies. Something is happening out there that is in our atmosphere. It is not a distant twinkle, it is something plummeting through our atmosphere,” Severson said. “It's like fireworks, it's ‘oohs' and ‘ahhs.'”

The Leonids are named after the Constellation Leo, from which the meteors appear to radiate. The meteors are debris from the Comet Tempel-Tuttle that burn up as they crash into the Earth's atmosphere.

Some will be visible all night long, but the peak will be from 2 to 4 a.m. Wednesday, when Leo is directly overhead and, with a new moon, the sky will be dark.

Severson said the planet Mars will also be near Leo, making it easier to find.

The Leonids are not as well known as the Perseids, the debris of the Comet Swift-Tuttle that radiates from the Constellation Perseus. That shower peaked in August.

The Earth is also passing through the debris field of another comet, Encke, that lasts from late October to early November, known for producing some spectacular fireballs. It is named the Taurids, for the Constellation Taurus.

Megill said a fireball was reported Saturday morning, probably from the Taurids, that left a condensation trail in North Bay skies.

The next meteor shower is the Geminids, peaking between Dec. 12 and 14.