THE LEONIDS 10.-23. November

The Leonids are a meteor shower with a radiation point in the constellation Leo (Leo in Latin). The Leonids occur annually in the period 10–23 November, with a maximum on November 17.

The Leonids are the dust remnants of the periodic comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle which returns to perihelion at an interval of 33 years. The meteor shower usually shows low activity with around 15 meteors per hour, but meteor storms can occur. This occurs when the comet returns to the inner solar system in such a way that Earth passes through the comet’s dust. Then you can see several thousand meteors per hour and the activity is often high for several years after a storm.

The meteors in the Leonids have a high speed of 71 km per second, the highest among meteor showers.

Ref: Store Norske Leksikon by master in astrophysics Maria Hammerstrøm