Leonid Meteor Shower Due to Return November 17

If you happen to be a "night owl" (such as me) or an astronomy junkie (such as me), leave yourself a note to go outside and look to the east during the early morning hours of 17 November, 2006. At about 0200 local time the annual Leonid Meteor Shower is projected to reach its maximum intensity and may produce bright meteors at a rate of up to 250 meteors per hour or only 10 per hour (depending on whose research you read). Meteor showers occur when the Earth crosses the orbital path of a comet and encounters the dust particles and other solids that were dislodged when the comet's outer surface began to melt it as it neared the Sun.

This meteor shower is named for the constellation Leo (the Lion) and represents material left behind by comet Temple-Tuttle. Temple-Tuttle is a member of the class of comets known as periodic comets, meaning that they cross Earth's orbit on a regular, predictable schedule. For Temple-Tuttle, this period is 33 years and its last visit was in the year 2000.

The Leonids always attract attention from both professional and amateur astronomers because this event has produced two of the most spectacular meteor showers in history.

1833 "The Stars Fell on Alabama"

1833 had been a relatively quiet year and, as the months gave way to November, there was nothing in the air that would be a cause of concern. Then came the night and early morning of November 12-13, 1833.

Newspapers of that era are filled with reports of people being awakened by crowds in the streets that were loudly announcing that Judgment Day had indeed arrived while some reported that people had been awakened by flashes of light and "loud noises" (probably "sonic booms) associated with the passage of fireballs.

According to a blurb on the Alabama State Archives page at , the 1833 Leonids made quite an impression of the citizens of Alabama:

"In 2002 the phrase "Stars Fell on Alabama" began to appear on license plates. It refers to the night of November 12, 1833, when a fantastic meteor shower seen across the Southeast caused this night to be known as "the night stars fell on Alabama." The shower created such great excitement across the state that it became a part of Alabama folklore and for years was used to date events. A century later it inspired both a song and a book."

Image 1 is a woodprint from that period. Notice that the sky is essentially covered by bright meteors.

1966 Fireballs after Sunrise

The Leonids of 1966 were much better documented than the 1833 event thanks to a pair of inventions known as the camera and telephone. Both these technological achievement went unused by one lad who eventually grew up (although there has been considerable speculation and debate regarding the maturity question) to become your humble correspondent and a contributor of essays and postings on this web site.

I was delivering the morning newspapers via bicycle that morning and had noticed a few bright meteors between 4:00 and 5:00 AM. By 5:10 AM the sky was filled with bright meteors (a least magnitude -6 for those that understand the term) from a source that seemed to be about 30� above the eastern horizon. The sky was filled with fireballs and at times I could hear a distinct "hissing" or "static" sound. The show continued for the next hour until sunrise began to slowly erase all but the brighter meteors. Even with enough ambient light to read a newspaper the brighter objects were still visible and I have been hooked on astronomy since that morning.

For More Information

As is often the case with the Internet, private individuals do a much better job than the pages maintained by their respective governments or even the "major" universities. For more information on the Leonid meteor shower and related events, you should take a look at Gary W. Kronck' s Comet & Meteor Showers pages.

The NASA web pages are a bit "dated" but have many useful links to more recent information and predictions.