In 1998, a team of NASA scientists and engineers sent a weather balloon to the stratosphere to film the Leonids high above obscuring clouds. This video clip shows one of the fireballs captured by the cameras. When the Leonid meteor shower strikes on November 18, Earth won't be the only place in the cross hairs. The Moon will also pass very close to the debris stream of comet Tempel-Tuttle. Leonid meteorite impacts on the Moon might be visible from Earth and provide a means for long-distance lunar prospecting.
Experts make their predictions.
Read a charming, first-hand account of the meteor shower that marked the discovery of the Leonids and created a new branch of astronomy. This reference explains how to convert UT to local time anywhere in the world. For most of human history, shooting stars were a real mystery. Ancient myths attributed streaking lights in the sky to spirits and omens. Aristotle thought they were patches of gas that rose off the Earth during the day and ignited when they reached the lowest celestial sphere at night.