Blog · Guide
How to watch the 2026 Leonids, November's meteor shower
The Leonids peak before dawn on November 17–18. This year the Moon sets early and leaves the sky dark just in time. Here's what you need to know.
When to look
The peak is expected on the night of Tuesday, November 17, into Wednesday the 18th. The best time is from midnight to dawn, when the area the meteors seem to come from, in the constellation Leo, is high in the sky. The shower is active from November 3 to December 2, so nights close to the peak are worth it too.
This time, the Moon helps
On the 17th the Moon is at first quarter: it lights up the first part of the night and sets around midnight. Just as the Leonids start to show well, the sky goes dark.
How many you'll see
Under dark, moonless skies, 10 to 15 meteors per hour. It's not the year's richest shower, but its meteors are among the fastest: they hit the atmosphere at about 70 kilometers per second and sometimes leave a trail that glows for a few seconds.
Where they come from
They're dust from comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, which swings by the Sun every 33 years. When Earth crosses a dense patch of its debris, the Leonids become a storm: in 1833 and 1966 people saw thousands of meteors per hour. No storm is expected in 2026, but a good night is.
How to watch, step by step
- Get away from the city. The less artificial light, the more meteors.
- Give your eyes time. They need 20 to 30 minutes to adapt to the dark.
- Lie back and watch the whole sky, not just Leo: meteors show up anywhere.
- Put your phone away. One glance at the screen undoes your dark adaptation; if you need it, turn the brightness all the way down.
- Dress warmly. November nights get cold before dawn, even in mild places.
- No telescope or binoculars needed: they narrow your view and you'd miss meteors.
A bonus: Mars, Jupiter and Regulus
That same morning, look toward Leo: very close to where the meteors come from, Jupiter and Mars shine, a couple of days after their conjunction next to Regulus. More in the November sky.
If you want to photograph them
Put your camera on a tripod with a wide-angle lens, manual focus at infinity, ISO 1600 to 3200 and 15 to 20 second exposures on continuous shooting. Let it run for a good while and check the photos at the end: one of them will have caught a meteor.
While you wait for the night, could you recognize Leo by its stars alone? Play Hidden constellation.
Sources: EarthSky, Astroshop, SpaceWeatherLive.