Meteor Shower 2021 Australia: Best time to see the Leonid meteor shower

An “intensely spectacular” event is set to light up the sky but you’ll have to get up very early or stay up into the wee hours of the night to get a glimpse.

Leonids meteor streaks seen across the Gudul district of Ankara, Turkey in 2020. Picture: Dogukan Keskinkilic/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images.

Those who find themselves awake in the early hours of Thursday morning could be treated to a stunning display in the sky.

A rare Leonid meteor shower is expected to light up the sky in the early morning, thanks to the old debris left by the comet Temple-Tuttle.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology’s Space Weather Services (BOM) the meteor shower will fall at its maximum rate “within a day or so of November 17,” and may even be visible despite cloudy skies.

Night watchers can expect to see “fairly bright” meteors that may leave a train visible for many seconds to a few minutes.

“The meteors travel very fast and the brighter meteors may show a golden colour,” it reads.

“In fact these meteors are the fastest of any meteor stream so far observe.”

A leonid meteor streaks across the sky over Gudul district of Ankara, Turkey on November 17, 2020. Picture: Dogukan Keskinkilic/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images.

The best areas for viewing are in big open spaces with minimal light pollution and clear skies. While very bright meteors are visible while the moon is still up, the best time to view the night sky is in the early morning as the moon is setting before sunrise.

While this year’s Leonid display is a meteor shower, every 33 years or so, they result in a meteor storm. The last storm occurred in 2002, with notable storms also happening 1833 and 1966 where meteor rates hit nearly 100,000 per hour.