Leonid meteor shower to be visible in Azerbaijan in November

The Leonid meteor shower will be visible in Azerbaijan from November 6 to 30.

The peak of the shower is expected at 03:45 Baku time on November 18, according to the Department of Astrophysics of the Physics Faculty at Baku State University (BSU), Report informs.

During this period, about 15 meteors per hour are predicted.

The most favorable time for observations is the night of November 17 to 18, from 02:00 until dawn. After the moon sets, the sky will become darker, improving conditions for observing even faint meteors.

The Leonids occur when the Earth passes through dust and small particles left by comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. The comet completes a full orbit around the Sun in approximately 33.2 years. It was independently discovered by German astronomer Wilhelm Tempel in 1865 and American astronomer Horace Tuttle in 1866.

The Leonids are distinguished by their high speed: particles enter the Earth's atmosphere at a speed of approximately 71 km/s or 255,000 km/h. Upon interacting with the atmosphere, they heat up and leave glowing trails, which look like fast-moving streaks of light from Earth.

The radiant of the shower-the point from which the meteors visually originate-is located in the constellation Leo, which gives the shower its name. However, the Leonids can be observed in various parts of the night sky.

The Leonids are known for powerful meteor storms, which were observed historically in 1833, 1866, 1966, and 1999–2002. Such phenomena are associated with the Earth passing through denser sections of the particle stream in the comet's orbit. A powerful meteor storm is not expected in 2026.