Leonids are coming! The 2001 meteor shower could be a huge show with peak meteor rates of up to 1,400 per hour

Leonids are coming! The 2001 meteor shower could be a huge show with peak
meteor rates of up to 1,400 per hour

The 2001 Leonids meteor shower – when Earth passes through debris streams
from Comet Tempel-Tuttle – could be one of the biggest astronomical shows in
years.

Experts at NASA’S Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and the
University of Western Ontario in London, predict rates of up to 1,400
meteors per hour.

Stargazers will see the most meteors near dawn EST on Sunday, Nov. 18 in the
Eastern United States and around 3 a.m. PST in the Western United States.

Predicting the time and intensity of meteor showers is important for
protecting expensive, satellites from meteors that travel at speeds of 45
miles per second (71 kilometers per second.)

Teams will monitor the storm from six locations, including Alabama, Florida,
New Mexico, Hawaii, Guam and Mongolia – and provide near real-time updates
at: SpaceWeather.com.

During the 1999 Leonids event, rates of 3,700 meteors per hour were recorded
over Israel and in 2001 rates of almost 400 meteors per hour were recorded
over parts of North America.

Talk to an expert about Leonids, its importance and the best way to see this
year’s “show.”

Who:

Mitzi Adams

Astronomer

Marshall Space Flight Center

Interview Information:

Kathy Jordan-Pettus

(256) 830-6583 Ext. 101

Story Information:

Steve Roy, Media Relations

(256) 544-0034