2001 Leonid Meteor Shower, via the AP
Are you guys totally stoked for the crazy two-day Leonid meteor shower that's about to go down? Our man on the street, with his eye on the sky, Joe Schumacher tells us: "It looks like there will be two peaks, a lesser one starting around 4 a.m. EST on Tuesday and the larger one about 12-13 hours later. The first one should have 2-3 dozen meteors per hour." While the light pollution will likely block the experience for many, the skies will be clear and cooperating.
If you can see it, NASA says the Leonids will appear to come out from Mars, and the Sky & Telescope blogger provides this handy illustration along with some other informative tips.
There's at least one group of folks heading over to Rockaway for a darker setting, and the Parks Department suggests Fort Totten... at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow. They say "This is the best time to view the Leonids Meteor Shower, peaking at 40 meteors per hour." Please note: that is not the best time to view the shower, and we've contacted the Parks folk to see where they got this information from. Space.com says that the peak of the shower will come during pre-dawn hours Tuesday, so you'll probably need some extra coffee at work tomorrow. If you get any photos, you know where to send them.
