November 27, 1998
The cosmos is full of spectacular things: ringed planets, exploding suns, rivers of stars across the night.
Twisting Meteor Train
Birthday · November 27, 1998
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APOD published November 27, 1998. Credit: Tom Bailey (Des Moines Astronomical Society). A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Blazing through the sky at 70 kilometers per second, 100 kilometers or so above planet Earth, many bright Leonid meteors left behind a persistent, smoke-like trail of glowing, hot, ionized gas. Twisting in high altitude winds, these trails or trains typically were visible for many minutes. As Iowa astrophotographer Tom Bailey captured the eerie, wispy remains of this persistent train from a fireball arcing overhead, yet another fainter Leonid meteor flashed across the sky.
Image credit: Tom Bailey (Des Moines Astronomical Society)