Leonid Meteor Shower Peaks: When To See Fireballs Over PA Skies

The Leonid meteor shower peaks this weekend, giving Pennsylvania residents the chance to see one of the best shooting star shows of the year — weather permitting.

Right now, the National Weather Service forecast through the weekend calls for clear skies throughout the Philadelphia region. Some clouds could surface in the western part of the state, potentially obstructing the view for residents in that area.

The full beaver supermoon will appear to be full through the weekend and could interfere with the peak of the Leonid meteor shower peak Saturday through Monday. But the Leonids aren’t ordinary meteors, so it’s still worth a trip outside.

These sometimes colorful meteors travel at an extremely fast 44 miles per second and are known for impressive fireballs with persistent streaks that meteor experts say could peek through the moonlight.

Because the moon will stay bright all night during peak activity for the Leonids Saturday through Monday, the darker the sky, the better the chances of seeing shooting stars and fireballs.

At the peak, they only produce about 15 meteors an hour, but they’re often beauties. Besides fireballs — larger explosions of light and color that persist longer than an average meteor streak — the Leonids are also known for producing earth-grazers, which NASA explains are meteors with long, colorful tails that streak across the horizon.

The best time to see the Leonids — and most other shooting star shows — is between midnight and dawn under clear, dark skies. Serious skywatchers will take along a lawn chair they can lean back in and take in the entire sky and give their eyes at least 30 minutes to adjust to the darkness.

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Meteors have been flying all month.

The Leonids continue through Dec. 2, just as the Taurid meteor showers wind down after rambling through most of the fall.

The Taurids are unique among shooting star shows because the meteors come from two separate streams — the first created by dust grains left behind by Asteroid 2004/TG10, and the second by debris left behind by Comet 2P/Encke. Together, they run from about Sept. 28 to Dec. 2.

Neither stream has a well-defined peak, but the Southern Taurids were most active early last week and the Northern Taurids early this week. Both showers produce about five meteors an hour.

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Another highly anticipated shooting star show, the Geminids — which some astronomers call the crown jewel of meteor showers — gets started next week and runs through Christmas Eve.

At its Dec. 13-24 peak, 150 shooting stars an hour may be visible under dark skies. These bright meteors also are often colorful, producing displays that can include shades of yellow, orange, green, blue and red.

Unfortunately, December’s full cold moon rises just two days after the peak, on the 15th.

The Ursids, a minor meteor shower that only produces about five or 10 shooting stars an hour, also closes out the year. The shower runs from Dec. 13-24, and peaks Dec. 21-22.