December 12, 2010
A birthday is what happens when cosmic time briefly puts down the scale of eons and pays attention to a single human year.
Leonids Above Torre de la Guaita
Birthday · December 12, 2010
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APOD published December 12, 2010. Credit: Juan Carlos Casado. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
In 1999, Leonids Meteor Shower came to an impressive crescendo. Observers in Europe saw a sharp peak in the number of meteors visible around 0210 UTC during the early morning hours of November 18. Meteor counts then exceeded 1000 per hour - the minimum needed to define a true meteor storm. At other times and from other locations around the world, observers typically reported respectable rates of between 30 and 100 meteors per hour. This photograph is a 20-minute exposure ending just before the main Leonids peak began. Visible are at least five Leonid meteors streaking high above the Torre de la Guaita, an observation tower used during the 12th century in Girona, Spain. Over the next few nights, the Geminids are expected to put on the best meteor show of this year.
Image credit: Juan Carlos Casado