The November meteors, illustration, As observed between midnight and 5 o'clock am on the night of November 13-14th, 1868 . Meteors, or shooting stars, are tiny particles of dust which enter the Earth's atmosphere with speeds of 35-95 kilometres per second. Air resistance heats the particles, making them visible as streaks of light. The Leonid meteor shower occurs annually around the middle of November when the Earth crosses the path of debris produced by the Tempel-Tuttle 1886 comet. This illustration is by tienne L opold Trouvelot (1827-1895), French artist and astronomer.