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The Truth About the 2002 Leonid Meteor Storm
Another Leonid meteor storm is due in 2002. Rumor has it that a full Moon will ruin the show ... but maybe not.
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May 10, 2002
When the Sun rose on November 19, 2001, I was standing outdoors gaping at the sky. It was cold, my neck was stiff from hours of looking up, and I needed breakfast -- yet none of that mattered. I was spellbound by the biggest meteor storm in decades.
All night long Leonid meteors had streaked across the sky -- thousands of them. Even as the horizon brightened at dawn, I could still see fireballs flashing in the distance. There was only one thought on my mind when the night sky finally vanished:
"I can't wait until next year."
A 2001 Leonid meteor streaking through the dawn sky, photographed by Science@NASA reader Brent Price of Antioch, Illinois. [more]
The Leonid meteor shower happens every year in mid-November. That's when our planet has a close encounter with Comet Tempel-Tuttle's orbit -- a region of space littered with streams of comet dust. Usually we pass through the rarefied gaps between streams and sky watchers see no more than 10 or 15 Leonids per hour. But sometimes (like last year) Earth plows through a debris stream more or less head-on and a full-fledged meteor storm erupts.
Such meteor storms rarely happen in consecutive years, but 2001 and 2002 are exceptions. Experts have just released their predictions: Depending on where you live (Europe and the Americas are favored) Leonid meteor rates in 2002 should equal or exceed 2001 levels.
(Full Story Here)
Cheers,
Dan
The Truth About the 2002 Leonid Meteor Storm . . .