Key information for official sites with agreements:
- Camp High Road is open unless specified on Camp High Road specific page
- C.M. Crockett is open only during periods specified on the Crockett specific page
- Meadowkirk observing requires explicit permission. See Meadowkirk page for details
- Sky Meadows State Park is open for vetted volunteers only unless posted on the Sky Meadows specific page
- Spruce Knob Mountain Center: See site specific page or contact site coordinator for availability
The Leonids is an average shower, producing up to 15 meteors per hour at its peak. This shower is unique in that it has a cyclonic peak about every 33 years where hundreds of meteors per hour can be seen. That last of these occurred in 2001. The Leonids is produced by dust grains left behind by comet Tempel-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1865. The shower runs annually from November 6-30. It peaks this year on the night of the 17th and morning of the 18th. The second quarter moon will block many of the fainter meteors this year, but if you are patient you should be able to catch quite a few of the brightest ones. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Leo, but can appear anywhere in the sky.
This meteor outburst / storm happened in 1925, 1935, 1985, and most recently in 1995. There’s debate as to whether or not anything spectacular will happen tonight. If we’re lucky, between 100 and 1,000 meteors per hour are expected during this event that might last somewhere between 15 and 40 minutes.
Because the event is so short-lived, folks in the western USA will be out of luck. If you live in the middle or eastern North America, South America, Europe or Africa, be sure to look up! You could witness the event of a lifetime…
Look in the direction of Monoceros, “The Unicorn”.
A conjunction of Venus and Jupiter will be visible on November 24. The two bright planets will be visible within 1.4 degrees of each other in the evening sky. Look for this impressive sight in the western sky just after sunset.
The public observing session scheduled for 12/1/2019 at Great Meadow has been cancelled due to the cloudy rainy forecast.
See front page of NOVAC Site for changes to event.
More information about Great Meadow including directions and parking visit the Great Meadow Site page.