“Meteor Showers will Brighten November Sky - AccuWeather.com”

Meteor Showers will Brighten November Sky - AccuWeather.com

Posted: 08 Nov 2010 03:16 PM PST

By Gina Cherundolo, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer

Nov 9, 2010; 7:20 AM ET

Astronomy enthusiasts will be treated with several meteor showers this November.

Comet Hartley 2 was speculated to create a new meteor shower. However, the debris from this comet missed Earth.

"While you won't see any meteors because of Comet Hartley," said Lisa Beightol, AccuWeather.com astronomy blogger, "Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle will be sending some our way starting this week."

The Leonids, the meteor shower associated with Tempel-Tuttle, will return beginning on Nov. 10 and will last until around Nov. 23. The peak of the shower is next Wednesday morning, Nov. 17.

"The radiant of course is near the star Regulus in the constellation Leo, with the best viewing after midnight the morning of the peak in the eastern sky," Beightol said.

The Nov. 21 full moon may interfere with meteor spotting until it sets around 3 a.m.

According to Beightol, the shower will be about average, so you can expect to see up to 20 meteors per hour.

In the meantime, another smaller meteor shower is already in progress. Gazers can look to the western Taurus constellation for the Northern Taurid shower.

This shower is typically responsible for many of the fireballs that are reported during November, Beightol said.

This shower is slower, with around five meteors per hour in a dark sky. This shower peaks Nov. 13.

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Thursday, November 11, 2010