Leonid meteor shower will light up the skies

Meteor shower peaks Thursday night and early Friday morning

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Late on Thursday night (November 17th) and into early Friday morning (November 18th,) the 2016 Leonid meteor shower will peak in intensity. The Leonid meteor shower takes place during most of the month of November, but the highest number of meteors is expected Thursday overnight and into Friday. The estimation for this time period is approximately 20 meteors per hour. 

The Leonid meteor shower occurs when earth passes through a debris trail left by the comet Temple-Tuttle. The comet takes just over 30 years to complete its orbit around the sun. 

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This year's Leonid meteor shower may be more difficult to view than in years past, because the full super moon occurred only three days before, so the light from the waning gibbous moon phase may interfere with the ability to see the meteors.

According to NASA, The meteors will always travel in a path away from the constellation for which the shower is named. This apparent point of origin is called the "radiant." For example, meteors during the Leonid meteor shower will appear to originate from the constellation Leo. (Note: the constellation only serves as a helpful guide in the night's sky. The constellation is not the actual source of the meteors.)

For optimal meteor shower viewing, leave town. The light pollution from urban areas significantly interferes with your ability to see the meteors. Clay (away from Orange Park,) Baker, Western Nassau, Putnam, Western St Johns, Bradford, Alachua, Gilchrist, Columbia (away from Lake City,) Western Camden, Western Glynn, Ware, Brantley, Pierce, Appling, Charlton, and Flagler counties have better chances to see meteors, especially away from roadways that have street lights and buildings. Open fields are optimal for meteor shower viewing.  You do not need any special equipment for viewing, the meteor shower is visible to the naked eye as long as your location is dark enough. 

The forecast for Thursday evening and Friday morning show sky cover is expected to be relatively clear and cool. Temperatures will be sinking out of the 60s and into the low 50s overnight, with some building cloud cover overnight, from clear to partly cloudy skies.