Each November, the Earth passes through or near a debris stream of dust and small rocks from comet Tempel-Tuttle, resulting in the Leonid meteor shower. Some of these small particles in the debris stream hit the Earth's atmosphere at hgh speed and are instantly vaporized, prodcuing a streak of light in the sky called a "meteor" or "shooting star." If the Earth happens to pass through a particlularly dense part of the debris stream, we might see a rare and perhaps spectacular "meteor storm." In a meteor storm, hundreds to thousands of meteors an hour are visible under a dark, clear sky.

Some astronomers see the possibility of a meteor storm this November when the Leonid meteor shower occurs. The best time to look would be in the early morning hours (2AM - 6AM) on the morning of Thursday 18 November. No one knows for sure whether or not there will be a meteor storm, or if it will be visible from our location of the Earth if one does occur, but even without a storm there should still be many dozens of meteors visible.

The best way to watch meteors is simply to find a nice dark place, away from city lights, lie back in a lawn chair and look up at the sky with your naked eyes. Because meteors can be seen anywhere in the sky a telescope is not a good idea for looking at meteors, as a telescope shows only a small area of the sky at one time. Clear November nights are apt to be cold, of course, so dress appropriately!

As the event grows closer, the prediction of the best time to look may change- for later information, check out the Sky and Telescope web page-