"Cosmic Dust" genre: Abstract
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	Our planet is heading for a minefield of cosmic dust streams laid down by periodic comet Tempel-Tuttle. The result could be a series of Leonid meteor outbursts on Nov. 17 and 18, 2000.
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	Story Behind the Song Leonid meteors are caused by tiny meteoroids that burn up in our planet's atmosphere as Earth passes close to the dust-strewn orbit of periodic comet Tempel-Tuttle. Every 33 years when the comet swings through the inner solar system it lays down a new trail of dusty debris. For Tempel-Tuttle, no two circuits through the solar system are exactly alike. Jupiter's powerful gravity slightly alters the comet's orbit each time around. As a result, each new debris trail is in a different spot. The comet's many dust streams form a sort of cosmic minefield that Earth navigates every year in mid-November.

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