Falling stars in November: How to watch the lightning-fast Leonids

In November the shooting stars of the Leonids flit across the sky.

How best to watch the fast falling stars.

• The

  Leonids

  are the largest

  falling

  stars

  in

  November

  .

  The

  Leonids used to be

  so active that

  November was

  considered the

  month of shooting stars

  .

• Meanwhile the

  Leonid current is

  rather weak, experts reckon with

  15 shooting stars

  *

  per hour

  .

• Everything about space, the solar system and space research *.

The weather in

is mostly cloudy and gray - but if the

is

, it is worth looking at the sky in the dark.

And not only because winter constellations like Orion are slowly showing up, but also because

can be expected

in November and December

.

is the time of the

.

Answers to the most important questions about shooting stars in general and the Leonids in particular.

How do shooting stars like the Leonids come about?

Shooting stars

are not dying stars, but rather small specks of dust left behind by comets orbiting the sun.

In the case of the

, it is the

that

trigger

the

.

If the orbit of the earth crosses such a dust track, the dust grains can enter the earth's atmosphere.

There, the dust grains ionize air particles and thus draw a more or less bright and long trail of light across the night sky.

Fireballs or fireballs - these are particularly bright

- can be among them.

Since the earth flies through the same dust tracks over and over again, many

falling

occur

regularly.

In addition to the Leonids, there are also the

* (August), the

(December), the

* (October) and the

*

(April) to the more famous meteor streams.

Why is the shooting star stream in November called Leonids?

The

are so named because their starting point (radians)

seems to be

in the

(Latin Leo).

The radians of other

falling

can also be derived from their names: Perseids flow from the constellation Perseus, the Geminids in December from the constellation Gemini and the lyrids from the lyre (Lyra).

When can you see the shooting stars of the Leonids?

The

fall from the middle to the end of November, the

maximum

falling

is expected in the night of November 17th to 18th.

The

when they enter the Earth's atmosphere.

Their speed is up to 72 kilometers per second, which translates to 259,200 kilometers per hour.

One of the reasons for the high speed is that the dust particles move in the opposite direction of the earth.

Shooting stars in November: what is special about the Leonids?

The Leonids used to be a noticeable stream of falling stars, which is why November was considered the month of falling stars.

However, the dust cloud through which the earth flies is now so widely dispersed that the

no longer particularly noticeable.

+

Even in November you can see shooting stars in the sky: The Leonids reach their maximum in the night of November 17th to 18th.

© picture alliance / Matthias Balk / dpa

However, every 33 years there is a special feature: If the earth crosses the trajectory of the comet Tempel-Tuttle, shortly after it has crossed the inner solar system, the number of shooting stars increases sharply.

There can then be a

falling

, but mostly there are "only" several hundred falling stars per hour.

The next time between 300 and 500

per hour are expected in the years 2022 and 2033, in 2094 there could be a big

with thousands of

.

How many shooting stars can you see in November 2020?

Since the

no longer so pronounced, one cannot

count

on many

.

In 2020 a "Zenithal Hourly Rate" (ZHR) of

expected.

ZHR stands for the number of shooting stars that an observer can see within an hour in a perfectly dark sky, when the radian of the falling stars is at its zenith.

The dust lanes of comets and the time at which the earth crosses them can be calculated exactly.

So you know when another shooting star night like the Leonids or other swarms is coming up.

- DLR_next (@DLR_next) April 5, 2020

How can you watch the Leonids shooting stars in November?

The

are on the move across the night sky, they seem

to stream

from the

(the so-called "radiant").

The constellation rises in the east around midnight.

To

see

the

, you should look for a place as dark as possible - if possible outside the light of the city.

A place with an all-round view is perfect.

In general, the observation situation in November 2020 is very good: The maximum of the Leonids coincides with the new moon * - that is, the bright light of the moon does

not

interfere with the

falling

.

You don't need special equipment

to watch

.

However, suitable clothing and a thermos with a warm drink are recommended on cold November nights.

Since you

need a little patience to search

for

falling

, you should also think about a deck chair.

More falling stars in November

In

there are other - much smaller -

streams of falling

.

The alpha monocerotids fall from November 15th to 25th with a maximum of five falling

per hour on November 22nd.

In 2019, experts expected a special feature: they had predicted that up to 1,000 shooting stars per hour * could fall for a short time - but the forecast did not come true.

The November Orionids can be seen from November 13th to December 6th, they reach their maximum with a ZHR of 3 on November 28th.

The stream of shooting stars of the phoenicides fall from November 22nd to December 9th, they reach their maximum on December 2nd .. (Tanja Banner)