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(meteorobs) Re: Leonid Meteors in the Classroom!



Mitch,

The best astro binoculars would be 7 X 50's with a wide field of view.  Mine
give a 10-degree field.  But Jeanie needs to learn the naked-eye sky first,
or else any optical instrument will be almost impossible to use.  Get H.A.
Rey's book The Stars : A New Way to See Them for the best available way to
learn the constellations.

I have heard of people buying 10" or even 14" telescopes cold, then end up
completely frustrated at not being able to use them because they didn't
learn the naked-eye stars first.  These stars serve as the guides to fainter
objects.

More Leonid posts follow -- some comments by one person with answers by
another.  This writer, Bob, has been kicking himself for 33 years.  He went
out an hour early on the storm night in 1966, CA, saw 6 Leonids/minute, was
unimpressed and went back to bed.  So he slept through the storm rates !  A
12-yr-old at the time.

Norman

>>Experts think that this year's Leonids may be even better, with peak
>rates greater than 40 shooting stars every second. 
>
>It is very simple! These rates are way out of line with what most
>experts are expecting to see. The most optimistic rates for this years
>display is 5000 Leonids per hour or slightly over one meteor per second.
>This is slightly different than 40 per second! The Earth is passing much
>further from the center of the stream of Leonid particles this year
>compared to 1966. This is the main reason for the lesser expectations.
>
>If you tell kids they will see 40 meteors each second they will
>certainly be disappointed if the real rates are 40 times less. I would
>tell them that perhaps they may be able to see "several" meteors per
>minute and just hope that the display materializes.
>
>The night of the 17th and morning of the 18th are still the times to
>watch.
>
>Bob Lunsford
>
>Iansplanet@aol.com wrote:
>> 
>> Why did Bob write there may be disappointed kids on November 18th due to
>> optimistic prediction of the website noted in the e-mail? Was it because the
>> Leonids will be most active on the 17th? Or just due to unpredictability of
>> them at all? Thanks.

Norman W. McLeod III
Staff Advisor
American Meteor Society

Fort Myers, Florida
nmcleod@peganet.com

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