A 2000 Leonid Through Orion
Credit & Copyright:
Doug Murray
The Leonid Meteor Shower this year could be
described as good but not great.
During November 17 and 18 the Earth crossed
through several streams of
sand-sized grit
left orbiting the Sun by
Comet Tempel-Tuttle.
Several distinct peaks in
meteor activity were reported,
with rates approaching 400 meteors per hour
for brief periods for some dark locations.
Pictured above, a
Leonid meteor was caught from
Florida
streaking through the
constellation of Orion
on the morning of 2000 November 18.
Visible as a red-tinged smudge to the left of the
three nearly linear stars that compose
Orion's belt is the picturesque star-forming region known as the
Orion Nebula.
Next year, the
Leonids Meteor Shower is expected
by many to be much more active.