If you have nothing else to do or don't need to sleep, hang your hammock so you can see the Leonid meteor showers.
Lie on your back as early as 1 am on Tuesday to witness the peak of the week-long Leonid meteor shower that has been around in the sky since Saturday.
The once-in-a-year spectacular shower will have 20-60 meteors seemingly falling from the constellation Leo the Lion, according to the experts at the Fiske Planetarium of the University of Colorado. Nevertheless the meteors are not falling from the constellation.
Leonid meteor shower occurs annually on November 17 when the earth passes the clumps that the Comet Tempel-Tuttle leaves on it orbit as a result of its coming close to the sun. When the comet comes close to the sun it sheds materials.
Leonid meteors-mostly having a visible diameter between 1 mm and 1 cm - travel at a speed of 71 km per second to reach the earth’s atmosphere. Leonid meteor shower during 199-2000 was a storm of meteors and had a whopping 1000 meteors per hour.
The best way to enjoy the shower of shooting stars, another name used for meteors, is to recline on your back away from the city lights and watch the sky. The phenomenon will continue for next two days.
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