The Leonids

The viewing of the Leonids were spectacular this morning!

The Leonids are created by Comet Tempel-Tuttle, which passes through the inner solar system every 33 years on its orbit around the sun. Each time by, it leaves a new river of debris, consisting mostly of bits of ice and rock no bigger than a sand grain, but including a few the size of a pea or marble.

When Earth plows into the debris, the bits hit the atmosphere and vaporize, creating sometimes dramatic streaks of light and the occasional fireball with a smoky-looking trail that can remain visible for several minutes.

The Leonid stream is moving in the opposite direction of Earth, producing impact speeds of 160,000 mph (72 kilometers per second) — higher than many other meteors.

Such speeds tend to produce meteors with hues of white, blue, aquamarine and even green.