Meteor Shower Rains Down Light

Thousands of meteors--debris left behind by a comet more than two centuries ago--flamed through the Earth’s atmosphere early Sunday, delighting sky watchers across Southern California.

Atop Mt. Wilson, hundreds of cars clogged the road leading to the observatory high above the Los Angeles Basin, as stargazers sought out a dark spot to watch as the sky appeared to rain light.

Elsewhere in the Angeles National Forest, turnouts were jammed with stargazing motorists. Others lined up along dark roadsides in the desert.

The display peaked in Southern California between 2 and 3 a.m., and the brightest meteors could be seen even in city areas and by early-morning drivers on well-lighted freeways.

The storm of shooting stars peaked at a rate as high as 1,250 an hour, according to NASA estimates. That was less than the 4,000 per hour predicted by some astronomers, but still among the most spectacular meteor displays in decades.

The meteors were part of an annual display known as the Leonid meteor shower because the meteor trails all appear to radiate from the direction of the constellation Leo the Lion.

The meteors are tiny particles of dust shed by the comet Tempel-Tuttle. The comet swings around the sun every 33 years, leaving behind a field of debris that lies in the path of Earth’s own orbit.

Each November, when the Earth passes through the debris field, the dust particles hit the atmosphere, much like insects smashing against the windshield of a speeding car. The meteors are traveling at 45 miles per second, and once in the atmosphere, they burn up, creating vivid trails and fireballs.

The meteors seen across the United States in the early hours of Sunday were part of the debris field left behind by the comet when it flew by in 1766.