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Birthday · November 23, 2001

Counting Falling Stardust

November 23, 2001

Your birthday marks the moment a small planet circling a modest star gained another witness to its wonders.

Counting Falling Stardust

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APOD published November 23, 2001. Credit: Rick Scott. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.

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Counting Falling Stardust

Original APOD · November 23, 2001

In the clear, dark and moonless predawn hours of November 18, Greenbelt, Maryland's local baseball field was packed. The crowd stared skyward and occasionally conversed in hushed and reverent tones. "How many did you count?" a man asked. Some had long since lost track ... but others were keeping score, counting hundreds of Leonid meteors in a short hour's worth of skygazing. Farther to the west, near Florence, Arizona, recreational astronomers also gathered to enjoy the celestial show. Taken from that location, this single, 10 minute, wide-angle exposure captured a dozen or so Leonid meteors. The shooting stars are clearly seen to be streaming from the shower's radiant point in the constellation Leo.

Image credit: Rick Scott

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