Editing John Couch Adams (section)

==Leonids==
[[Image:Leonids-1833.jpg|left|upright|thumb|The great Leonid shower storm of 1833]]
The great [[meteor shower]] of November 1866 turned his attention to the [[Leonids]], whose probable path and period had already been discussed and predicted by [[Hubert Anson Newton]] in 1864.<ref name="eb"/> Newton had asserted that the [[longitude of the ascending node]], that marked where the shower would occur, was increasing and the problem of explaining this variation attracted some of Europe's leading astronomers.<ref name="ODNB"/>

Using a powerful and elaborate analysis, Adams ascertained that this cluster of meteors, which belongs to the [[Solar System]], traverses an elongated ellipse in 33.25 years, and is subject to definite perturbations from the larger planets, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. These results were published in 1867.<ref name="eb"/>

Some experts consider this Adams's most substantial achievement.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/cosmic-redemption-astronomer-john-couch-adams/ | title=The cosmic redemption of astronomer John Couch Adams | date=17 July 2024 }}</ref> His "definitive orbit" for the Leonids coincided with that of the [[comet]] [[55P/Tempel-Tuttle]] and thereby suggested the, later widely accepted, close relationship between comets and meteors.<ref name="ODNB"/>