Maximum Phase of the Leonids Meteor Shower to be Observed in the Sky Tonight: Levon Azizyan

Every year, between November 8-22, the Leonids meteor shower is observed with slight variations in its peak phase. This was reported by Levon Azizyan, the director of the Hydro-meteorological Monitoring Center.

"The center of the Leonids meteor shower, known in astronomy as the radiant of the shower, is located in the direction of the constellation Leo, which is where the name of this shower originates. Tonight, the maximum phase of the Leonids meteor shower will be visible in the sky, and it will be possible to observe 12-15 meteors per hour. Meteor showers occur when the Earth, as it moves along its orbit around the Sun, encounters a group of celestial stones, typically left by comets. These stones, entering the Earth's atmosphere at high speeds (several tens or hundreds of kilometers per hour), burn up and leave trails reminiscent of 'falling stars.'

The Leonids travel at a considerable speed, averaging 72 km/s, and leave greenish trails in the sky. Their size can reach up to 9 mm, with a mass of up to 85 grams. The annual Leonids meteor shower is caused by the passage of the Earth through the debris left by the comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, discovered in 1866. Although Leonids are not very intense in ordinary years, every 33.25 years, when the Earth passes through the center of a cluster of celestial stones, there is a sharp increase in the number of meteors observed, making the Leonids shower one of the most abundant meteor showers, with more than 1,000 meteors per hour (sometimes reaching up to 3,000)," he noted.