Historical artwork of the spectacular Leonid meteor shower of 13 November 1833. The shower's three hour peak resulted in terror among the populace. Meteors also called shooting stars are tiny dust grains that enter the Earth s atmosphere and glow as they are heated by air resistance. Leonid meteor showers occur annually for about two days around mid November when the Earth crosses the orbit of debris produced by the comet Tempel Tuttle. These meteors enter the atmosphere at speeds of about 72 kilometers per second. There are 5 to 20 meteors each hour apart from about once every 33 years when thousands can be seen. This artwork was made in 1889 for the Adventist book Bible Readings for the Home Circle.
