Stargazers in many Asian countries have gathered to watch the Leonid meteor storm. Despite freezing temperatures, the watchers enjoyed the falling meteors for hours in the pre-dawn darkness.

Astronomers say Wednesday morning's meteor storm was the largest since the one in 2001.

In northwest China's Gansu Province, astronomers and fans braved cold weather and shook off their sleepiness to wait for the astronomical phenomenon.

Kou Wen, Senior engineer of Beijing Planetarium, said, "From 4:30 to 5:30 we saw five to six meteors per minute. I think there were 2 to 3 hundred in total in that single hour."

A meteor shower occurs when streams of a comet's debris interacts with a planet such as the earth.

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