Leonids meteor shower visible on Nov. 17

MANILA, Philippines - Astronomy lovers in the country can watch the annual Leonids meteor shower on Nov. 17, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said.

In its monthly astronomical diary, Pagasa said the Leonids is capable of producing 20 meteors per hour.

“This year the Leonids meteor is not expected to produce enhanced rates, but theoretical work by Mikhail Maslov suggested peak zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) of about 20 meteors might occur around Nov. 17, 2010 at 11 p.m.,” Pagasa said.

The ZHR is the number of meteors that a single observer would see per hour.

The Leonids meteor shower is created by bits of debris left behind by the repeat passages through the inner solar system of comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, the weather bureau said, although the waxing gibbous moon on Nov. 17 might interfere with meteor viewing.

The weather bureau said Leonids is one of the prolific meteor showers of the year. Its radiant is in the constellation Leo. A radiant is a point in space from which a meteor shower appears to originate.