Peaks 16–17 November ZHR 15

The Leonids

Fifteen an hour, except roughly every thirty-three years, when it is thousands.

The parent comet returns every 33 years and drags a dense trail behind it; catching Earth in that fresh trail is what produced the storm of 1833, when people counted meteors in the tens of thousands per hour and thought the world was ending. In an ordinary year it is a quiet shower with a spectacular reputation.

Peak: 16–17 November, most years
Zenithal hourly rate: 15
Radiant: Leo, in the Sickle
Debris from: comet 55P/Tempel–Tuttle

Where you can see it

The radiant rises everywhere north of 68°S. From mid-northern latitudes (40°N) it climbs to about 70° before dawn. From mid-southern latitudes (35°S) it climbs to about 21° before dawn.

The height is the radiant's, the point the meteors seem to come from, on the peak night, counting only the hours when the Sun is at least 12° below the horizon. The lower it is, the fewer meteors reach you: at 30° up you would see about half the rate above, before the Moon and your own sky take their share.

The Moon at each of the next four peaks

The Moon's phase at the Leonids maximum, 2026 to 2029
Maximum	Moon	What that means
17 November 2026	First Quarter, 45%	Half-lit and setting around midnight — the second half of the night is yours.
17 November 2027	Waning Gibbous, 90%	A bright Moon through the pre-dawn hours, which is exactly when the rate peaks.
17 November 2028	New Moon, 0%	With effectively no Moon tonight, this is as good as the Perseids gets.
17 November 2029	Waxing Gibbous, 85%	A bright Moon up for most of the night. Expect the brightest meteors only.

The Moon is taken at 00:00 UTC on the morning of maximum. Whether it is actually above your horizon at three in the morning depends on where you are standing — the live calendar works that out for your own location. Showers are almost all better after midnight, when your side of the planet turns to face the direction of travel and starts sweeping meteors up instead of waiting to be caught.

What you need

Nothing. Meteors cross too much sky too fast for binoculars or a telescope to be anything but a handicap — the equipment for this is a coat, a chair that tips back, and twenty minutes for your eyes to adapt. Look up and slightly away from the radiant rather than straight at it; meteors near the radiant are coming at you end-on and leave the shortest trails.

Peak night and rate: International Meteor Organization, Meteor Shower Calendar (opens in a new tab). Moon phases computed here.

The Leonids

Where you can see it

The Moon at each of the next four peaks

What you need

Settings

Gear that makes it better

Where these numbers come from