What are the Leonids?
Each year, the night sky is illuminated by dozens of meteor showers. During these showers, pieces of cosmic debris – mostly coming from giant dirty snowballs called comets – leave glowing trails as they are incinerated during entry to the Earth’s upper atmosphere. We see them as short-lived trails of light streaking across the sky. One of the most famous meteor showers is known as the Leonids, so-called because their light trails all seem to originate from the constellation of Leo. The Leonid meteors are associated with dust particles ejected from Comet P/55 Tempel-Tuttle, which pays periodic visits to the inner Solar System once every 33.25 years. Actually, the Leonids appear every year between November 15-20, when the Earth passes very close to the comet’s orbit. However, the numbers on view vary tremendously. In most years, observers may see a peak of perhaps 5-10 meteors per hour around 17 November. But, roughly every 33 years, the Leonids generate a magnificent storm, when thousan
