I got up five years ago at like 4am for these babies. Was freaking cold out, but it was supposed to be a particularly good year. I did get to see a few meteors, including one that I got a decent picture of as it soared near Venus (well, to our eyes at least - you can see my photo at left).
More from Space.com:
The Leonid meteors are debris shed into space by the Tempel-Tuttle comet, which swings through the inner solar system at intervals of 33.25 years.
With each visit the comet leaves behind a trail of dust in its wake. Lots of the comet's old dusty trails litter the mid-November part of Earth's orbit and the Earth glides through this debris zone every year. Occasionally we'll pass directly through an unusually concentrated dust trail, or filament, which can spark a meteor storm resulting in thousands of meteors per hour. That's what happened in 1999, 2001 and 2002, because Tempel-Tuttle had passed through the inner solar system in 1998.
But now, the comet – and its dense trails of dust – have all receded far beyond Earth's orbit and back into the outer regions of the solar system. So this year there there is little if any chance of heightened activity....
this year's peak activity should occur on the night of Nov. 17-18. They cite 4:00 GMT on Nov. 18, which corresponds to 11 p.m. EST and 8 p.m. PST on the evening of Nov. 17.
This is the moment when the Earth will be passing closest to the orbit of the long-departed comet, and when our planet seemingly is most likely to encounter some residual comet material. This time is highly favorable for those in Europe and Africa. But in contrast for North American observers, Leo will still be below the horizon; they will have to wait until later in the night to catch a view of the Leonids.
But while Leonid rates are unpredictable, it is unlikely that more than about 15 meteors per hour will be seen this year.
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