APOD
A 2000 Leonid Through Orion
November 20, 2000Doug Murray
About This Image
The Leonid Meteor Shower this year could be described as good but not great. During November 17 and 18 the Earth crossed through several streams of sand-sized grit left orbiting the Sun by Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Several distinct peaks in meteor activity were reported, with rates approaching 400 meteors per hour for brief periods for some dark locations. Pictured above, a Leonid meteor was caught from Florida streaking through the constellation of Orion on the morning of 2000 November 18. Visible as a red-tinged smudge to the left of the three nearly linear stars that compose Orion's belt is the picturesque star-forming region known as the Orion Nebula. Next year, the Leonids Meteor Shower is expected by many to be much more active.
On This Day in Space History
On November 20, 1998, the first module of the International Space Station (Zarya) was launched into orbit.
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