Returning from orbit [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], space shuttles enter the atmosphere at about 8 kilometers per second as friction heats their protective ceramic tiles to over 1,400 degrees Celsius. By contrast, the bits of comet dust which became the Leonid meteors [ http://comets.amsme…leonids.html ] seen on November 18, were moving at 70 kilometers per second, completely vaporizing at altitudes of around 100 kilometers. In this [ http://www.astropix…] single 5 minute time exposure, three Leonid meteors are [ http://leonid.arc.n…] shooting through skies [ http://www.astro.ca…faq/answers.html#wha twasthat ] above Spruce Knob, West Virginia, USA. Background stars are near the constellation Orion. The brightest meteor, a fireball [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], dramatically changes colors along its path and leaves a smokey persistant [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] trail drifting in high-altitude winds. From that extremely dark site, at an elevation of 1,200 meters, astrophotographer [ http://www.astropix…] Jerry Lodriguss reports, "We observed a [zenithal hourly rate [ http://comets.amsme…]] of about 3,600 at 10:30 UT and very high rates from 9:30 UT until well into the start of astronomical twilight at 10:50 UT. It was quite a spectacular storm [ http://science.nasa…ast22jun99_2.htm ], with bolides going off like flashbulbs, green and red fireballs and other fainter Leonids in all parts of the sky."
