If your skies are clear tonight, take an hour off to head outside, find a nice place to stargaze from, and sit back to watch the peak of the Leonid meteor shower.
Each year, throughout much of November, Earth passes through a stream of icy debris left behind by a comet known as 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. As the atmosphere sweeps up bits of dust and ice from the comet trail, these meteoroids flash through the air as bright meteors.
On or around the 17th of November, we pass through the highest debris concentration in the stream. This results in perhaps a dozen or so of these bright meteors streaking through the night sky every hour. This is the peak of the Leonid meteor shower.
The debris stream of Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, orbiting the Sun in relation to the planets of the inner solar system. Earth and Earth’s orbit are shown in light blue. Credit: Meteorshowers.org
The Leonids aren’t usually a very strong meteor shower. The best of the year — the January Quadrantids, the August Perseids, and the December Geminids — all produce around 100 meteors per hour. In contrast, if you find a dark sky site, far from any light pollution, and you have a clear, moonless night, you may see around 15 Leonid meteors each hour.
Some years, dozens and sometimes hundreds of Leonids can streak across the sky. This is especially true right after Comet Tempel-Tuttle has made its most recent pass around the Sun. The last time this happened was right after the comet’s 1998 perihelion (its closest point to the Sun in its orbit). In the years that followed, several outbursts were recorded by astronomers, including nearly 100 meteors during the peak of 2008.
Back in 1833, the Leonids even produced a famous meteor storm. One report from the time estimated that over 240,000 meteors were spotted throughout the night. At the same time, another said that the rate was over 100,000 meteors per hour for the 9-hour storm.
This wood engraving, from Adolf Vollmy’s Bible Readings for the Home Circle, depicts the 1833 Leonids meteor storm.
We haven’t seen anything like this storm in recent times. Also, more outbursts aren’t expected from this shower until at least 2031. Still, this is a shower worthy of our attention, though.
One remarkable thing about Leonid meteors, though — they’re exceptionally fast. Travelling at over 70 kilometres per second through the sky, they flash very brightly and, at times, show up multi-coloured! They are also known to produce a lingering phenomenon known as persistent trains.
A persistent train forms when a meteoroid travels so fast that it strips away electrons from the air molecules in its path. These ionized air molecules linger along the meteoroid’s path, and each one emits a brief burst of light when it picks up a replacement electron to neutralize that ionization. This shows up as a wispy, dimly-glowing ribbon in the sky. Trains are known to persist for some time after the meteor has gone out — from minutes to hours!
Watch below: Rare persistent train meteor captured by Gemini Observatory over Mauna Kea
(Hat-tip to astronomer Daniel Moser for the video.)
Of the Fall meteor showers, the Leonids are the most well-known for producing persistent trains.
TIPS FOR STARGAZING & METEOR WATCHING
First, some honest truth: Many people who want to watch a meteor shower end up missing out on the experience, unnecessarily.
Since the Moon and most planets are so bright in the night sky, it’s easy to fall into the expectation that watching a meteor shower will be just as easy. It takes a bit of travel and effort to get the most out of a meteor shower, but it is well worth it!
First off, there’s no need to have a telescope or binoculars to watch a meteor shower. They’ll actually make it harder to see the event because they restrict your field of view.
Here are the three ‘best practices’ for watching meteor showers:
Check the weather,
Get away from light pollution, and
Be patient.
Clear skies are very important for meteor-spotting. Even a few hours of cloudy skies can ruin an attempt to see a meteor shower. So, be sure to check The Weather Network on TV, on our website, or from our app, and look for my articles on our Space News page, just to be sure that you have the most up-to-date sky forecast.
Next, you need to get away from city light pollution. If you look up into the sky, are the only bright lights you see street lights or signs, the Moon, maybe a planet or two, and passing airliners? If so, your sky is just not dark enough for you to see any meteors. You might catch a bright fireball, but there’s no guarantee, and those are typically few and far between. So, get out of the city, and the farther away you can get, the better!
Watch: What light pollution is doing to city views of the Milky Way
For most regions of Canada, getting out from under light pollution is simply a matter of driving outside of your city, town or village until a multitude of stars is visible above your head. In some areas, such as in southwestern and central Ontario and along the St. Lawrence River, the concentration of light pollution is too high. Unfortunately, getting far enough outside of one city to escape its light pollution tends to put you under the light pollution dome of the next city over.
In these areas of concentrated light pollution, there are dark sky preserves. However, a skywatcher’s best bet for dark skies is usually to drive north and seek out the various Ontario provincial parks or Quebec provincial parks. Even if you’re confined to the parking lot after hours, these are usually excellent locations from which to watch (and you don’t run the risk of trespassing on someone’s property).
Sometimes, based on the timing, the Moon is also a source of light pollution, and it can wash out all but the brightest meteors. We can’t get away from the Moon, so we can just make do as best we can in these situations.
Once you’ve verified you have clear skies and you’ve gotten away from light pollution, this is where having patience comes in.
For best viewing, you must give your eyes time to adapt to the dark. Give yourself at least 20 minutes, but the longer, the better. A fair warning: if you skip this step, you will likely miss out on a lot of the action.
During this adjustment time, avoid all bright light sources — overhead lights, car headlights and interior lights, and cellphone and tablet screens. Any exposure to bright light during this period will cancel out some or all the progress you’ve made, forcing you to start over. Shield your eyes from light sources. If you need to use your cellphone during this time, set the display to reduce the amount of blue light it gives off and reduce the screen’s brightness as much as possible. It may also be worth finding an app that puts your phone into ‘night mode’, which will shift the screen colours into the red end of the light spectrum, which has less of an impact on your night vision.
You can certainly look up into the starry sky while you are letting your eyes adjust. You may even see a few brighter meteors as your eyes become accustomed to the dark. If the Moon is shining brightly, turn so that it is out of your personal field of view.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
