Asteroid

Whats a good website that shows when the next meteor showers will be, and gives times for when to look for them in your area? Did anyone look for the leonid shower lastnight?

The major meteor showers that can be seen each year are listed below.
Hourly Rate = the number of meteors that can be seen per hour under good conditions at the peak of the shower.
Duration = the number of days during which the number of meteors per hour is at least one-quarter of the peak number.

Quadrantids: peak = Jan. 4th, hourly rate = 40, duration = 2.2
Lyrids: peak = Apr. 21st, hourly rate = 15, duration = 4
Eta Aquarids: peak = May 4th, hourly rate = 20, duration = 6
Delta Aquarids: peak = July 28th, hourly rate = 20, duration = 14
Perseids: peak = Aug. 12th, hourly rate = 50, duration = 4.6
Orionids: peak = Oct. 21st, hourly rate = 25, duration = 4
South Taurids: peak = Nov. 3rd, hourly rate = 15, duration = ?
Leonids: peak = Nov. 16th, hourly rate = 15, duration = ?
Geminids: peak = Dec. 13th, hourly rate = 50, duration = 5.2
Ursids: peak = Dec. 22nd, hourly rate = 15, duration = 4

I hope this helps!

PS – yes, I watched the Leonids last night, after midnight!

In a book it says an asteroid stays steady orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter (asteroid belt). Then it says that meteors move around and can enter the atmosphere. But then it says an asteroid hit the Earth and killed all the dinosaurs, isn’t that a meteor? I swear asteroids stay still?

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) – Cite This Source – Share This
as·ter·oid /?æst??r??d/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[as-tuh-roid] Pronunciation Key – Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun 1. Also called minor planet. Astronomy. any of the thousands of small bodies of from 480 miles (775 km) to less than one mile (1.6 km) in diameter that revolve about the sun in orbits lying mostly between those of Mars and Jupiter.
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com·et /?k?m?t/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[kom-it] Pronunciation Key – Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun Astronomy. a celestial body moving about the sun, usually in a highly eccentric orbit, consisting of a central mass surrounded by an envelope of dust and gas that may form a tail that streams away from the sun.
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me·te·or /?miti?r, -??r/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[mee-tee-er, -awr] Pronunciation Key – Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun 1. Astronomy. a. a meteoroid that has entered the earth’s atmosphere.
b. a transient fiery streak in the sky produced by a meteoroid passing through the earth’s atmosphere; a shooting star or bolide.

The perseids meteor shower? It’s said to peak in the very early hours of August 14th, but what if I watched it like that night, or the next morning? Would there even be anything to see? How many per hour do you think there would be?

Thanks.

It depends on thew particular meteor shower. Some, like the Perseids, have very broad peaks, so are about equally intense for several nights in a row. Others have very narrow peaks, an hour or less.

This year the famous Geminids meteor shower will peak on Dec14. The thing is that it’s on a Monday. I don’t exactly have the time to stay up late on Sunday or Monday night. I was planning to watch this meteor shower on Dec12 or late that night with my bf. So I was wondering if I can watch it like a day or two before the peak day of a meteor shower but still will have a pretty night sky?

Yes, meteor showers can occur days prior and days after they hit their peak.

http://www.imo.net/calendar/2009

This is the 2009 calendar of meteor showers from the International Meteor Organization. Their home page can tell you how to get the very most out of your meteor shower viewing experience.
When 2010 gets here, change the date on this link to 2010 and you should see the calendar for all of next year too. (The last time I checked, they hadn’t quite finished building the 2010 one yet.)

I know what a meteor is haha, but I have an assignment with this question and it needs to be a page long, do you have any ideas?

It is meteorites that actually hit the earth and can be analyzed. That is a bit short of a page. Sorry.