The fastest annual meteors. Modest most years — but the parent comet has produced historic storms.
See the live viewing map for the Leonids →The Leonids reach maximum activity on the night of Tue, Nov 17, 2026 (computed from the shower's solar-longitude peak, the method the International Meteor Organization uses). The shower is active from Fri, Nov 6 to Fri, Nov 27.
The often-quoted ZHR of 15 is a theoretical ceiling (perfectly dark sky, radiant overhead). Real counts depend on your sky: from a dark-sky site expect a meaningful fraction of that; from a suburb, far fewer. Meteorcast computes the expected visible rate for your exact spot and night.
The moon is 58% illuminated on the peak night — a bright moon — expect to lose the fainter meteors.
Somewhere dark, with an open sky and clear weather. Use the live map to compare cloud forecast, air transparency, and light pollution anywhere in North America, and to find ranked dark-sky sites near you.
Peak times computed from the shower's solar longitude (IMO method) with precession correction; moon illumination from high-precision ephemeris. Forecasts on the live map combine ECMWF, GFS, and ICON weather models with smoke, transparency, and light-pollution analysis.