For the late crowd: keep your calendars open for Tuesday morning around 3:30 a.m.

15 Nov 2009 by Sean in Charleston Outside

Finally, some treasure for us night owls!  Just a quick heads up to keep your head up overnight Tuesday.  The annual Leonid Meteor Shower is expected to be a good one this year.

Photo by: Michael Pique, 2001.  Courtesy: NASA

While the peak of the shower will show overnight in Asia—more than 100 meteors per minute hour (potentially up to 500)—we’ll still get a good show in North America—about a dozen meteors or more per minute hour.

Update: The number I’m reading more and more for the U.S. is 20 to 50 meteors per hour.

So we won’t be spoiled with two shooting stars per second, seeing one and counting to five (on average) to see another isn’t bad.

I made a mistake.  Somehow, I got excited and heard ‘minute’ when I read ‘hour.’  My apologies.  It’s still going to be a good show, though.

From MSNBC:

The very strong display will favor those living across most of central and eastern Asia.  In this region, meteor rates might briefly rise to a few hundred per hour (the time frame for the most intense activity is anticipated sometime around 21:40 GMT).

A far more modest, but still potentially enjoyable display of a few dozen Leonid meteors per hour is expected to favor North America. In the United States and Canada, eastern observers will be particularly well-positioned for maximum activity, expected sometime between 3:30 and 5:30 a.m. EST, when the radiant of the Leonid shower will be well up in the dark southeastern sky.
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33589356

Here’s a whole NASA site about the Leonids.

From Space.com:

Astronomers now predict the 2009 Leonids could produce more than 500 shooting stars per hour for skywatchers with clear skies in certain locations. Asia looks to have the best seats, but North America might not be left out.—“Strong Leonid Meteor Shower expected for 2009”

The new moon will help viewing as long as the clouds cooperate.  It’s best to get as far away from light sources (Mt. Pleasant, for instance) as possible.  I’ve watched these in the past from the beach, and it’s been decent.  Camping out away from the city is probably your best bet.