The Leonid meteor shower will peak today with 10-20 shooting stars per hour.

The Leonid meteor shower is expected to peak today at a relatively low rate, although consistent with recent years. Given the rate already measured, in good rural conditions, under clear skies, it will be possible to observe one meteor approximately every 3-5 minutes. In urban conditions, even in the absence of clouds, it is unlikely that you will see more than 1-2 meteors per hour. The Leonid shower is not one of the strongest meteor showers of the year, so such values are generally common, although there have been several cases in history of exceptionally strong meteor showers associated with this shower. In particular, this occurred in 1833, when the number of shooting stars that covered the entire sky was even compared to the number of snowflakes in a blizzard.

It should be noted that autumn and winter meteor showers are, for obvious reasons, much less popular than summer ones. Good conditions for observing shooting stars usually arise quite late after sunset – in this case, it will be from about 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. local time. And it's clear that searching for shooting stars on a quiet, warm summer night is much more pleasant than dancing in the snow in the cold. Nevertheless, such an opportunity will present itself tonight and the next few nights. The radiant (the point from which the stars fly) will be in the east and southeast in the constellation Leo. If you have astronomical charts or an app, simply find the star Regulus (the brightest star in the constellation) and observe the sky in its vicinity.

It should be noted that the brightest winter showers of the year are still ahead. These are the Geminids, which peak on December 14, and, of course, the Quadrantids, which peak on January 3, often allowing, among other things, to make a wish on New Year's Eve. In both cases, the rate of meteor fall should be several times higher than in the current stream.