People have always been interested in shooting stars as a magnificent natural phenomena as they leave a glowing trail while they travel across the sky and suddenly disappear. What many people are unaware of, however, is how they come into existence and what these "shooting stars" are actually composed of, as well as why they occur from time to time.
Recently, the skies covering Asia and the Americas experienced the 2009 Leonid Meteor shower. This impressive display of shooting stars peaked in the Americas on November 17, 2009, and during that time it is reported that about 20-30 shooting stars could be viewed every hour. What's even more impressive, however, is the 200-300 that could be viewed over Asia every hour.
Leonids are meteors which come into existence due to debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle. The comet only enters the inner solar system once every 33 years and leaves a trail of its dust and debris behind. Although scientists are able to predict when we will be able to view the meteor shower, it is very hard for them to predict the intesity of the show. This year was one of the most magnificent displays in recent history.
What made this year's Leonid Meteor shower, which could be viewed most notably on November 21, 2009, most impressive was the coincidental occurance that Mars happened to be passing by at the same time as the shower, making it seem as though the shower was coming straight from the glowing red planet.
Hopefully many were able to catch the show, which is expected to be the best showing of shooting stars of the year.
References:
http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1783822/the_2009_leonid_meteor_shower/index.html
http://stardate.org/nightsky/meteors/
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