The Leonid Meteor Shower 2001


Source: Aukland Observatory

The Leonid meteor shower occurs annually in mid November when the Earth passes through the path of Comet Temple-Tuttle. At the time, the Earth is moving in the direction of the constellation Leo. As a result, the meteor shower appears to radiate from Leo and the meteorites are called the Leonids.

The Leonid meteor shower in 2001 is expected to peak in the predawn hours of Monday 19th November. It will be observable in the ENE once Leo rises about 2:30am. Calculations done by astronomer Rob McNaught at Siding Spring Observatory, in NSW, predict that in 2001 there will be two peaks that reach 2,000 to 8,000 meteors per hour (30 to 130 per minute). The first peak is expected to occur at around 4:24 am and the second at around 5:13am, as the sky begins to lighten.

Pre-Dawn Sky 19th November 2001


Play the movie or move the thumb to see the sky as it will appear
on the early morning of 19th November 2001.
Simulation generated by Starry Night Pro, Sienna Software.

Path of Comet Temple-Tuttle


Soruce: Armaugh Planetarium

Each time it passes through the inner solar system, Comet Temple-Tuttle follows a slightly different orbit. This November, Earth will pass directly through several of the older orbits.

Meteor Showers and Storms

Meteors are sometimes called "shooting stars". Meteor showers occur when Earth passes through the path of a comet. As comets move along their orbit, they shed dust and rocky debris as the comet's ice evaporates in the Sun's heat. Earth encounters the orbit of a comet dozens of times per year. Each time, debris shed by the comet plunges through the atmosphere and vaporizes, causing a meteor shower. If a meteor shower is much denser than usual, it is called "a meteor storm".

Leonid Meteors

The particles strewn along comet Temple-Tuttle's orbit strike the atmosphere at around 71 kilometers per second - much faster than a speeding bullet. They heat up due to friction and burn brightly - we see them a brief streaks of light. The smallest particles make faint meteorites. Larger particles, the size of small stones, make very bright meteors that stretch right across the sky. Sometimes they explode with a burst of light. Sometimes they leave a trail of smoke in the upper atmosphere.

You will know you are seeing a Leonid meteor if you can trace its path back to a point in the constellation Leo, the Lion. This point, called the radiant, lies in the "sickle" of Leo and will rise above eastern horizon just after 2:30 am on Monday 19th November 2001.


Source: The Eclipse Zone
A. Scott Murrell took this 10-12 minutes exposure image of 1966 Leonid Storm
at New Mexico State University Observatory. All meteors move from its radiant in Leo.
This image was published in Sky & Telescope, Nov. 1995.

History of the Leonid Meteor Shower

The Leonid meteor shower has a long history. Historical references to meteor showers going back for over 1000 years can now be related to the passage of Earth through the orbit of Comet Temple-Tuttle. The image below depicts the particularly dense storm of 1833.


Source: Meteor Storm Hazard - Leonids '98

The most recent storm took place in 1966, when meteors fell at a rate of 40 per second!

Michael Gallagher, Novmber 16th 2001

Sources:
Heavens Above, C.M.Wyatt
The Leonid Meteors - Armaugh Planetarium
The Leonid Meteor Shower, Aukland Observatory
Leonids Meteor Shower, The Eclipse Zone
Meteor Storm Hazard - Leonids '98