COLLECTION NAME:
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Record
Title:
A Leonid Meteor Over Sweden
Explanation:
This past weekend, small remnant bits of a distant comet lit up the skies over much of planet Earth. Incoming reports [ http://lists.meteor… ], however, have this year's Leonid meteor shower [ http://meteorshower… ] as less active than Leonid meteor showers a few years ago [ http://antwrp.gsfc.… ]. Nevertheless, some sky enthusiasts [ http://antwrp.gsfc.… ] reported peak meteor [ http://spaceweather… ] bursts as high as one visual meteor per minute. The parent body of the Leonids meteor shower, Comet Tempel-Tuttle [ http://antwrp.gsfc.… ], leaves a trail of expelled sand-size particles every 33 years when it returns to the inner Solar System. When the Earth passes through a stream of these Sun-orbiting particles, a meteor shower results. Pictured above [ http://www.clearski… ], a Leonid meteor was captured two days ago during the early morning hours of November 19 over Vallentuna [ http://en.wikipedia… ], Sweden [ http://en.wikipedia… ]. Although activity levels in meteor showers are notoriously hard to predict, some astronomers speculate that Aurigids [ http://comets.amsme… ] meteor shower next September might [ http://www.space.co… ] be unusually rich in bright meteors [ http://antwrp.gsfc.… ].
Credit and Copyright:
P-M Hedén [ mailto: pm.heden at bostream dot nu ]
facet_where:
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_what:
COMETS
UID:
SPD-APOD-ap061121
