Leonids in Cape Town

The Leonids meteor shower peaks from Cape Town around Nov 17, with up to 15 meteors per hour under ideal conditions. In 2026 a thin crescent moon leaves mostly dark skies, and from Cape Town the radiant in Leo climbs to 18° above the north-east horizon around 03:55. Local best viewing window: 02:55–03:55 SAST on the peak night, about 1.0 hours of astronomical darkness. Scaled to that altitude, the 15/hour headline figure works out to roughly 5 meteors an hour from Cape Town under a genuinely dark sky. The radiant stays low from Cape Town, so expect fewer meteors but longer, shallower trails near the horizon. Tonight: solid cover, with no real breaks forecast.