Posted by Jeff on November 20, 2001 at 14:00:37:
Leonids: Wild Storm of Shooting Stars Seen Sunday Morning
By Robert Roy Britt
Senior Science Writer, SPACE.com
Updated at 3:30 p.m. EST Nov. 18
Vivid streaks of light, sometimes several at a time, zipped across the early Sunday morning sky as the 2001 Leonid meteor shower reached a stunning crescendo. A few of the meteors exploded into dazzling fireballs as skywatchers in North America and elsewhere witnessed ancient space dust plunging into Earth's atmosphere and vaporizing.
The event was well documented by scientists, and it will live forever in the memories of thousands of amateur astronomers and first-time viewers who braved sometimes chilly weather and fought off sleep
Behind the show
The display was the result of space dust vaporizing in Earth's atmosphere. Most of the shooting stars were created by stuff no larger than sand grains. The debris is the exhaust of comet Tempel-Tuttle, which orbits the Sun every 33 years. Earth passed through several separate trails of this debris over the weekend. Some of the trails had been laid down centuries ago.
Four different research groups had predicted when and where various peaks of activity would occur, and how many meteors per hour would be visible at the peak time. But meteor shower forecasting is in its infancy. Serious Leonids forecasts go back to just 1998.
The predictions for North American ranged from 800 meteors per hour to 4,200. In parts of Asia and Australia, a peak hourly rate of 8,000 or more was expected. The hourly rates were expected to be achieved during short bursts that would last 30 minutes or less.
The show is not entirely over. Though the peak is past, the Leonids will wind down through Nov. 21. Each morning until then offers an opportunity to see some shooting stars, both those associated with the Leonids as well as others.
This time of year is a busy one for shooting stars in general.