The doctor says the showers will be visible in the sky until dawn, but will actually start appearing in the sky some time after midnight tonight. He noted that the sight is usually spectacular and the Leonids are not known as the king of meteor showers for nothing.
The showers are the result of small shards of space debris slamming into the earth’s atmosphere at a rate of more than 250,000kms per hour (or 70kms a second). Dr Posayachinda says the occurrence will only generate up to 15 meteors an hour over Thailand, but they will be among the most brilliant anywhere in the world.
The doctor says the Leonids in all their glory are best viewed away from the bright lights of cities and by lying parallel to the ground as they will be directly overhead. From this position budding astronomers will be able to track the meteors across the sky.
Leonid meteor showers set to light up pre-dawn Thai sky
News in Asia
Thailand’s astronomy institute has announced the annual Leonid meteor shower phenomenon will brighten up the sky over Thailand tonight. The National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand’s Dr Sarun Posayachinda says the optimum period to view the Leonids will be from 03:00 onwards.