This iconic etching of the 1833 Leonid meteor shower was drawn by Adolf Vollmy for the Adventist book Bible Readings for the Home Circle. It is based on a picture by Swiss artist Karl Jauslin, which was inspired by a first-person description of the 1833 hurricane by a pastor, Joseph Harvey Waggoner, who experienced it while travelling from Florida to New Orleans.
During the renowned shower, hundreds of thousands of meteors were spotted each hour! It was the first reported meteor storm in contemporary times.
This year’s Leonids peak on the mornings of November 17 and 18. The Leonid meteor shower is a dependable yearly shower, as the moon is out of the way, and beautiful Venus is in the morning sky, rising just before sunup, ready to brighten your day no matter how many meteors you’ve seen. On November 17 and 18, try to avoid city lights and watch between midnight and morning.
Expect 10 to 15 Leonid meteors each hour. Finally, this is a well-known illustration of the 1833 Leonid meteor shower.
