Leonid meteor showers seen tonight

MANILA, Philippines - Filipinos can watch for shooting stars from the Leonid meteor showers late tonight until dawn tomorrow, the state weather bureau said yesterday.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said 10 meteors per hour are expected in the late hours of Nov. 17 until dawn of the following day under favorable sky conditions.

The Leonids, according to PAGASA, are one of the most prolific meteor showers. 

“Its radiant is in the constellation of Leo and meteors from this shower can be seen over a period of about two days centered on approximately the early morning hours of Nov. 18 in the eastern section of the sky,” the agency said.

The meteor showers can be seen with the naked eye.

But unlike in previous years when hundreds of meteors were seen, astronomers and experts do not predict many this year, PAGASA said.

In 1966, the Leonids had a 15-minute interval where viewers witnessed 1,000 meteors per minute, according to the website AccuWeather.com.

The peak time to witness the meteors will be between the hours of midnight and dawn, it said.

The Leonid meteor shower is created by the bits of debris left behind by the repeat passages through the inner solar system of the 55P/Tempel-Tuttle comet.