Leonids Above Torre de la Guaita
			
		
		
			Credit & Copyright:  
Juan Carlos Casado
		
		
			The 1999 Leonids Meteor Shower came to a tremendous crescendo.  
Observers in Europe observed a 
sharp peak in the number of 
meteors visible 
around 0210 
UTC during the early morning hours of November 18.   
Meteor counts then exceeded 1000 per hour - 
the minimum needed to define a true 
meteor storm.  
At other times and from other locations around the world, 
observers typically reported 
respectable rates of between 30 and 100 meteors per hour.  
The 
above photograph 
is a 20-minute exposure ending just before the main 
Leonids 
peak began.  
Visible are at least five Leonids 
meteors streaking high above the 
Torre de la Guaita, an observation tower used during the 
12th century in Gorina, 
Spain.