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This year's Leonid meteor shower is likely to be as good, or even better, than last year's meteor storm announced NASA yesterday. Meteors, or shooting stars, are dust particles burning up as they enter our atmosphere at enormous speeds. The Leonids occur every year in mid-November when the Earth passes close to the orbit of Comet Tempel-Tuttle - a region that contains streams of dust ejected from the comet. Usually our planet passes through low density regions of the stream and only 10 to 15 meteors are seen per hour. Experts predict, however, that this year the Earth will pass through two dense streams of debris and that the Leonids will be a meteor storm with as many as 5,000 to 10,000 meteors per hour at its peak. This year's Leonids will, therefore, be at least as impressive as last year's storm. According to the predictions, the first peak will occur over Europe at 04.30 GMT on Nov 19. The second stream will peak at 05.30 EST over eastern North America. The moon will be full, however, it will be low in the western sky away from the arrival direction, or radiant, of the meteors. The Leonids should, therefore, put on an impressive display. Most of the debris in the Leonid meteoroid stream are dust particles that will completely disintegrate in our atmosphere at altitudes above 80 km. Even larger fragments, which can produce fireballs, do not survive to reach low altitude and thus do not represent a hazard on the ground. In space, however, the Leonids could cause damage to satellites.
More info: NASA information
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