Eye withness accounts of the 1966 Leonid storm
North America Meteor Network
The International Meteor Organization
Fireball reports
"Remember on any given night you can see at least six meteors an hour but several times a year we are treated to a meteor shower. Meteor showers occur when the earth encounters swarms of particles moving together through space. Many such swarms of particles that the earth intercepts at regular intervals are known. Showers produced by them are predictable. On rare occasions the earth unexpectedly encounters swarms of particles that produce spectacular meteor displays.
"Unlike sporadic meteors, which seem to come from any direction, meteors belonging to a shower all seem to radiate or diverge away from a single point on the celestial sphere; that point is called the radiant of the shower. Recurrent showers are named for the constellation within which the radiant lies or for a bright star near the radiant.
"The seeming divergence of shower meteors from a common point is easily explained. The meteoroids producing a meteor shower are members of a swarm; they are all traveling together in closely spaced parallel orbits about the sun. When the earth passes through such a swarm, it is struck by many meteoroids, all approaching it from the same direction. As we, on the ground, look toward the direction from which the particles are coming, they all seem to diverge from it. Similarly, if we look along railway tracks, those tracks, although parallel to each other, seem to diverge away from a point in the distance.
"It has been found that the elements of the orbits of many meteoroid swarms are similar to those of the orbits of known comets. Not all meteor showers have yet been identified with individual comets, but it is presumed that all showers have had a cometary origin."
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* Leonid
This is a very special meteor shower. Most of the time it is very unimpressive, but once every 33 to 32 years it is a blow out. During those years the Leonids are not a meteor shower but a meteor storm. November 17 of 1966 the people in the southwestern United States say not 6 meteors per hour but 100 meteors per second. That is 60,000 an hour! Many people were convinced that the end of the world was at hand. This wasn't the only time that happened. In 1833 the meteor storm was so heavy that the meteors fell like snow flakes. Leonids are also known for fireballs.
>
I still get really excited about things that I see in the night sky. That is why I started this mailing list. Those who join this list will get email letters about things like meteor showers, planets that are up and all kinds of other wonderful events. I hope to someday include short articles about constellations. I just want everyone else to have as much fun as my astronomy club and I are having. If you are interested, sign up.
