Leonid meteor shower 2026: when and where to look

The Leonid meteor shower peaks around 17 November 2026. The International Meteor Organization (IMO) quotes two timings for the expected maximum that day: a model prediction by Mikhail Maslov at 16:00 UT, and 23:45 UT, when Earth crosses the middle of the dust stream (the "nodal crossing"). UT is Universal Time, the clock in London in winter. Expect a modest show: a ZHR of about 15, the hourly rate one person would see under a perfect sky with the radiant overhead. Real skies give fewer.

In the four northern cities we calculated, the Moon (about half lit) sets around midnight, and the radiant in the constellation Leo rises around then. So the useful hours there run from about midnight until the sky starts to brighten. In London the night of 17 to 18 November catches the 23:45 UT timing; in Tokyo the same night catches the 16:00 UT one.

The Leonids are famous for rare meteor storms: 1833 and 1966 are the best known, and NASA says the last one took place in 2002. No Leonid storm is predicted for 2026: the IMO lists weak dust-trail encounters, with a possible modest increase in activity.

When is the Leonid meteor shower 2026?

The Leonids are active from 6 to 30 November. The IMO's 2026 calendar gives the regular peak, when Earth passes the middle of the stream, on 17 November at 23:45 UT. It also quotes a model by Maslov with a peak on 17 November at 16:00 UT, with an expected ZHR of about 15. The American Meteor Society (AMS) names the night of 16 to 17 November as the peak night.

The two IMO timings are 7 hours 45 minutes apart, and the AMS names a different night, so it is worth watching more than one night. In local time, the two timings fall at:

Our chart shows the dark, Moon-free hours with the radiant more than 10° up for five cities, next to the two timings.

Best time to watch the Leonids where you live

The radiant rises overnight; some curves in our chart pass their highest point before the chart ends. These are the dark hours we calculated for the night of 17 to 18 November (local time), with the Sun more than 18° below the horizon, the Moon down and the radiant more than 10° up. Times are approximate, from samples every 10 minutes.

London: the 23:45 UT timing falls right at the start of the dark hours on the night of 17 to 18 November.

Tokyo: the same night contains the 16:00 UT timing (1 a.m. local time).

New York and Los Angeles: both timings fall in daylight or early evening. The nights of 16 to 17 and 17 to 18 November are both worth a look; the AMS points to the first.

Sydney: the radiant stays low and the dark window is short, so expect only a few Leonids.

Where to look for the Leonids

The meteors seem to come from a point in the constellation Leo, the Lion, near the bright stars of the curved "sickle" in its head. That point is the radiant. Around midnight it is low in the east; by dawn it is high in the south-east (from North America and Europe).

You do not need binoculars or a telescope, and you do not need to look at the radiant itself. Leonids appear all over the sky, and the ones far from the radiant have the longest trails. Look about halfway up, a little to the side of Leo.

In November 2026 there is a handy signpost: Jupiter and Mars are both in Leo, within about 8 to 9° of the radiant (JPL Horizons, checked for New York at 4:30 a.m. EST on 18 November). Jupiter is the brighter of the two. At that time and place, Venus also shines very low in the east, about 5° up.

How many Leonids will you see?

The IMO's ZHR of about 15 is the number one observer would see in an hour under a perfect sky with the radiant straight overhead. Real skies give fewer. With the IMO's formula and the radiant 60° up, we estimate:

Sky darkness is measured by the faintest star you can see, on a brightness scale called magnitude: the bigger the number, the fainter the star.

• Very dark sky (faintest stars magnitude 6.5): about 13 an hour.
• Rural sky (magnitude 5.5): about 5 an hour.
• Suburban sky (magnitude 4.5): about 2 an hour.

That is a quiet shower. What makes the Leonids special is their speed: NASA gives about 71 km per second. Our cover photograph shows a bright Leonid's coloured streak. NASA notes that rates outside storm years are often as low as about three an hour.

Is the Moon a problem in 2026?

Partly. On the night of 17 to 18 November the Moon is about half lit (a waxing Moon, 50 to 58 percent at moonset in our five cities) and up in the evening. In New York, Los Angeles, London and Tokyo it sets around midnight, about when the radiant rises, so the hours after that are dark. In Sydney it sets at 1:40 a.m.

The AMS lists 39 percent illumination and the night of 16 to 17 November; its entry does not say which moment that percentage refers to.

Leonid meteor storms: 1833, 1966 and 2002

Every 33 years, the Leonids' parent comet, 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, comes back to the inner Solar System, and fresh dust can produce a meteor storm. NASA defines a storm as at least 1,000 meteors an hour.

• 1966: according to NASA, thousands of meteors per minute fell during a 15-minute period. The photos from Kitt Peak in Arizona show how crowded the sky was.
• Around 2000: NASA shows a burst of 1999 Leonids photographed from an aircraft, and says the last Leonid storm took place in 2002.
• 1833: on the night of 12 to 13 November, a Leonid storm was seen over North America east of the Rocky Mountains (Wikipedia, citing NASA's Leonid history). One estimate, which Wikipedia attributes to Space.com, put the peak at over 100,000 meteors an hour. The astronomer Denison Olmsted explained in 1834 that the meteors came from a cloud of particles in space. The well-known engraving of the storm was made in 1888, so it is a retrospective illustration, not a photograph of the event.

The comet's next closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is due on 20 May 2031, according to the IMO. That alone does not predict the next storm: it depends on where dust trails lie compared with Earth's path.

Will there be a Leonid storm in 2026?

No Leonid storm is predicted for 2026. The IMO's 2026 calendar lists model calculations by Jérémie Vaubaillon and Mikiya Sato that show several encounters with old dust trails on 17 to 19 November. They describe them as weak, low level or very weak; Vaubaillon notes that the number of dust particles is not enough for a significant outburst. Sato adds that the dust left the comet more slowly than in similar recent cases, which may mean a modest increase in activity. So expect a few fast, sometimes bright meteors.

For another major annual shower, see our Geminid guide. All other showers are in our meteor shower calendar.

How to watch the Leonids

NASA's Leonid page gives simple advice, and it works for any meteor shower:

1. Go dark. Find a spot well away from city and street lights. 2. Dress warmly. NASA suggests coming prepared for winter temperatures, with a sleeping bag, a blanket or a lawn chair. 3. Lie back. Pick a spot with a wide, open view of the sky. Lie flat with your feet towards the east and look up, taking in as much of the sky as you can. 4. Give your eyes time. NASA says your eyes adapt in less than 30 minutes in the dark, so avoid bright lights while you wait. 5. Be patient. The show lasts until dawn, and quiet minutes are normal.

To find Leo from your own town, set the date in a free planetarium such as Stellarium Web. For what else is up tonight, see our Tonight page.

Leonid meteor shower FAQ

When is the Leonid meteor shower in 2026? Active 6 to 30 November. The IMO quotes two timings for the expected maximum on 17 November: 16:00 UT (Maslov model) and 23:45 UT (nodal crossing). The AMS names the night of 16 to 17 November.

When should I watch the Leonids? In New York, Los Angeles, London and Tokyo, on the night of 17 to 18 November 2026, from about midnight until the sky starts to brighten, when the radiant in Leo is up and the Moon has set. In Sydney, the short window is 3:20 to 4:10 a.m. AEDT on 18 November.

How are meteor showers named? After the constellation where their radiant lies. The Leonids seem to come from Leo, the Lion.

What caused the 1833 meteor shower? Like every Leonid, its meteors were dust from comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle burning up in the air (NASA names the comet as the Leonids' source). In storm years, Earth runs into a much denser part of that dust. At the time, Denison Olmsted concluded that the meteors came from a cloud of particles in space.

Which meteor shower happens every 33 years? None happens only every 33 years, but the Leonids are linked to that number: their parent comet takes 33 years to go around the Sun (NASA), and the strongest Leonid storms have come in the years around its returns.

What is the difference between a meteor and a meteorite? A meteor is the streak of light when a bit of dust or rock burns up in the air. A meteorite is a piece that survives and lands on the ground.

Where can the Leonids be seen? From both hemispheres, but best from the Northern Hemisphere. From Sydney the radiant is only about 19° up when the sky starts to brighten.

Which direction should I look? Anywhere in the sky. The meteors seem to come from Leo. In New York, Los Angeles, London and Tokyo it rises in the east around midnight; in Sydney it is low in the north-east in the short window before dawn. Jupiter and Mars are nearby in 2026.

Will there be a Leonid meteor storm in 2026? None is predicted. The IMO lists only weak dust-trail encounters, with a possible modest increase in activity.

When is the next Leonid storm? No one can promise one. The parent comet's next perihelion is due on 20 May 2031, but that alone does not predict the next storm.

How we checked

The dates, peak times, ZHR, radiant and dust-trail notes come from the International Meteor Organization's 2026 Meteor Shower Calendar, edited by Jürgen Rendtel (archived copy, because the IMO website was being rebuilt). The AMS peak night and Moon percentage come from the American Meteor Society's calendar entry, read on 8 October 2026. The 1833 date and region come from Wikipedia's Leonids article, which cites NASA's Leonid history; the rate estimate there is cited to Space.com. Storm history, the storm definition, the comet's 33-year orbit, the viewing tips and the speed of 71 km per second come from NASA's Leonids page; its fact box gives a slightly different speed (69.7 km per second).

For the Moon and the darkness we downloaded the positions of the Sun and the Moon from NASA JPL Horizons for New York, Los Angeles, London, Tokyo and Sydney, every 10 minutes from 16 to 20 November 2026. We counted the sky as dark when the Sun was more than 18° below the horizon and the Moon's centre below the horizon, and required the radiant to be more than 10° up; we calculated the radiant's height ourselves (right ascension 152°, declination +22°). Rates use the IMO formula: rate = ZHR × sin(radiant height) ÷ 2.5^(6.5 − faintest star magnitude). Planet positions come from JPL Horizons. Times are rounded to 10 minutes. We used the Horizons positions as published and did not verify them independently; the radiant heights are our own calculation, without a second independent calculation.

The sky views are our screenshots from Stellarium 26.3 with its Meteor Showers plugin, credited as Stellarium asks; the landscape is Guéreins by Fabien Chéreau. The cover photo is by Navicore (CC BY 3.0), the 1966 photos are by NOIRLab/NSF/AURA (CC BY 4.0); we cropped the cover and resized both. The 1833 engraving by Adolf Vollmy (1888) is in the public domain. None of the images is AI-generated.