Young Moon Sets Stage for Annual Leonids Meteor Shower





NASA Media Contact:

Janet Anderson, 256-544-0034

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Ala.

Janet.L.Anderson@nasa.gov

The Leonids occur each year in mid-November -- bits of debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Every 33 years the comet visits the inner solar system and leaves a stream of dusty debris in its wake. Many of these streams have drifted across the November portion of Earth's orbit. Whenever our planet hits one, meteors appear to be flying out of the constellation Leo.If you capture the Leonid meteor shower in photos, we invite you to add them to our Flickr "Leonid Meteors" group . This is a great resource to help your images get extra attention from the general public...and perhaps the worldwide media.