Leonid Meteor Shower 2020 in India Tonight! Know Where and How to Watch This Celestial Activity in the Night Sky

During the festival of Diwali, some of you may have seen great display of fireworks in the night sky. But the festive celebrations are over and now if you are lucky enough, you can see some natural display of fireworks in the sky. We are talking about Leonid Meteor Shower which is currently at its peak in the night sky. The Leonid Meteor Shower 2020 peaked on the night of November 17 and there's a great chance of you to spot some meteors in the sky tonight. Those living in the Northern hemisphere can enjoy this spectacle. In this article, we tell you more about Leonid Meteor Shower and how and where you can watch it. Just last month, we saw the Draconids Meteor Shower display too.

What is Leonid Meteor Shower?

The Leonid meteor shower are associated with the comet Tempel–Tuttle. The comet takes around 33 years to make one orbit around the Sun. This meteor shower gets its name from the location of their radiant in the constellation Leo, from where they appear to radiate in the sky. They are usually active in November and peak during November 16-18. Taurid and Leonid Meteor Shower 2020: Meteorites to Grace Night Skies in November, Know How to Watch the Celestial Activity.

Meteors appear like shooting stars but they are debris of the comet passing in its orbit around the sun. When the debris enter the Earth's atmosphere, they burn up emitting a light, which makes it light up like a shooting star.

When and How to Watch Leonid Meteor Shower?

The best way to spot the meteor showers is to head away from the city lights and pollution. If you can head to a secluded spot away from the city, with clear visibility of the night sky, you can watch the meteors clearly. The best time to watch meteors is pre-dawn hours, around 2 to 3 AM. As many as 15 meteors can be observed in a hour during the Leonid meteor shower. You do not need a special equipment to watch the meteors, but just need to adjust your eyes to the dark night sky. Once you can spot some constellations or prominent stars, you can looking for meteors. You can download a sky map app to look for the constellation and positions of the stars to get an idea about the peak direction of the meteors.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 18, 2020 05:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).