The Truth about the 2002 Leonid Meteor Storm The Truth about the
2002 Leonid Meteor Storm Another Leonid meteor storm is due in
2002. Rumor has it that a full Moon will ruin the show ... but
maybe not. May 10, 2002: When the Sun rose on November 19, 2001,
I was standing outdoors gaping at the sky. It was cold, my neck
was stiff from hours of looking up, and I needed breakfast --
yet none of that mattered. I was spellbound by the biggest
meteor storm in decades. All night long Leonid meteors had
streaked across the sky -- thousands of them. Even as the
horizon brightened at dawn, I could still see fireballs flashing
in the distance. There was only one thought on my mind when the
night sky finally vanished: "I can't wait until next year."
Right: A 2001 Leonid meteor streaking through the dawn sky,
photographed by Science@NASA reader Brent Price of Antioch,
Illinois. [more] The Leonid meteor shower happens every year in
mid-November. That's when our planet has a close encounter with
Comet Tempel-Tuttle's orbit -