All you need to know: 2019’s Leonid meteor shower and that is will probably be cloudy or a really bright Moon or something else that will make getting up at some ungodly hour a waste of effort.

November’s wonderful Leonid meteor shower is active from about November 6 to 30 each year. The peak is expected in 2019 on the night of November 17 (morning of November 18). The shower happens as our world crosses the orbital path of Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. Like many comets, Tempel-Tuttle litters its orbit with bits of debris. It’s when this cometary debris enters Earth’s atmosphere and vaporizes that we see the Leonid meteors. In 2019, a waning gibbous moon will light up the sky during the shower’s peak. In a dark sky, absent of moonlight, you can see up to 10 to 15 meteors per hour at the peak. In 2019’s moonlit sky? We can’t predict, but some of the brighter meteors should be visible in moonlight. Read more