Look up! The Leonid meteor shower is coming

If you have ever wished upon a shooting star, you may want to keep a few wishes handy next week.

The Leonid meteor shower is expected to peak over Malaysia on the night of Nov 17 into the early hours of Nov 18, with around 15 meteors an hour possible under favourable conditions, according to the Malaysian Space Agency (Mysa).

The shower, which is active from Nov 6-30, can be seen from both hemispheres. For Malaysian skywatchers, this year’s conditions are especially promising after the moon sets at about 1.23am, leaving darker skies in which fainter meteors should be easier to spot.

Despite the name, meteor showers have nothing to do with stars falling from the sky. The Leonids occur when Earth passes through debris left behind by comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, with tiny particles creating bright streaks as they enter the atmosphere.

The shower takes its name from the constellation Leo, from which the meteors appear to radiate. But they can streak across almost any part of the sky, so there is no need to spend the night searching for one particular constellation.

Leonid meteors are particularly fast, travelling at around 260,000kph, and some can leave glowing trails that linger briefly after the meteor itself has vanished.

Fortunately, watching a meteor shower requires almost no equipment. Telescopes and binoculars narrow your field of view, so all you really need are your eyes, a dark location and some patience.

Try to get away from streetlights, buildings and heavily illuminated urban areas. Give your eyes about 20 to 30 minutes to adjust to the darkness and avoid repeatedly looking at a bright phone screen.

The hours after 1.23am on Nov 18 should offer particularly good conditions in Malaysia, according to Mysa, although cloud cover and light pollution will ultimately determine what you actually see.

And “15 meteors an hour” is not a guarantee. That figure assumes favourable viewing conditions, so someone watching from the middle of Kuala Lumpur, for example, may see considerably fewer.

Of course, November weather in Malaysia may have its own ideas. But if the clouds stay away, set an alarm, find somewhere dark and look up – for once, losing a little sleep could come with a pretty good view.

Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.