Los Angeles Times: Leonid Meteor Showers Are Due

A similar show is expected Nov. 19 and could provide better viewing because the waning moon will not interfere as much. Viewers should look toward the eastern horizon between midnight and 2 a.m., said Scott Kardel, public affairs director of Palomar Observatory in San Diego County.

“It’s pretty unlikely we’re going to have a huge outburst,” he said.

The Leonid meteor shower occurs each November when the Earth passes through dust trails shed by the comet Temple-Tuttle, which soars through the inner solar system every 33 years.

For the last four years, Earth has passed directly through fresh dust trails and allowed some viewers to see more than a thousand meteors per hour. This year, the planet only brushes past dust trails that are several centuries old.