Nov. 12, 1833, was an amazing night for stargazers, as observers from New York to Missouri saw thousands of “falling stars.” The event became known as “The Night the Stars Fell” and some people thought the cosmic fireworks show signaled the Second Coming or some other spectacular event.

However, Yale astronomer Denison Olmstead looked for a natural explanation. He asked the public to share what they saw, sparking an interest in “citizen science.”

This led to a new understanding of meteor showers.

Nowadays we know that every November the earth passes through the debris in the trail of a comet known as Tempel-Tuttle, causing the meteor showers we know as the Leonids, (because they come from the sky near the location of constellation Leo) every 33 years. Tempel-Tuttle orbits the sun once every 33 years and was last near the earth in 1998, according to Jack Maseberg, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Physics at Fort Hays State University. He and Paul Adams, dean of the College of Education, are co-sponsors of the FHSU Astronomy Club.

The Leonid meteor showers are going on now and are expected to peak just before midnight on Thursday and into the early hours of Friday, Nov. 18. The moon will reach its third-quarter phase on Wednesday, ensuring dark skies before midnight for the rest of the week, Maseberg said. Thursday and Friday nights people who have a dark sky should be able to view should about 15 “shooting stars” per hour with no binoculars or telescope necessary.

The local forecast for the Great Bend area indicates that Thursday night will be very cloudy, but Wednesday and Friday evenings are predicted to be clear, he said. (See https://clearoutside.com/forecast/38.88/-99.33).

Adams offered the following advice for viewing:

“If you go out to watch the meteor shower, dress warm and take blankets. One of the easiest ways to view the whole sky is to lie on the ground or a reclining lawn chair and wait! The Leonid meteors are known for leaving trails that can last for a few seconds to a few minutes. Well worth the time invested in watching the sky.

“While watching for meteors, take time to use a night sky app to learn about what is up: constellations, star names, and finding the planets Jupiter and Saturn,” Adams added. “Though binoculars are not needed for meteors, sweeping these across the night sky can reveal more of the night sky such as clusters of stars, gas clouds in space, and double stars – and turn the evening into a great experience.”