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(meteorobs) "Leonid Meteor Shower Could Be One Of Best In History"; "Astronomers Anticipate Meteor 'Storm' On November 18th"
Here is some wonderful press on the upcoming Leonid meteor shower...
EDITOR'S NOTE: There is some concern that not ALL scientists actually
predict a storm visible over North America! Of course, we encourage all
interested members of the public to get out before dawn Sunday morning,
18 November. But keep in mind that the only CONSENSUS prediction right
now, is for a storm over Western Pacific / East Asia, 7-8 hours later.
Clear skies around the world that weekend!
Lew Gramer, North American Meteor Network
------- Forwarded Message #1
>From: Ron Baalke <baalke@zagami.jpl.nasadot gov>
Astronomical Society of the Pacific
San Francisco, California
November 1, 2001
Leonid Meteor Shower Could Be One Of Best In History
By Robert Naeye
In the wee morning hours of Sunday, November 18, the Leonid meteor shower
might intensify into a dazzling meteor storm, with "shooting stars"
continuously blazing trails across the night sky. Viewers across the
United States are perfectly positioned to take advantage of the storm,
which could be among the most spectacular sky events of the 21st century
according to the latest scientific predictions.
The peak in shower activity will occur between 4:00 and 6:00 a.m. EST, or
1:00 and 3:00 a.m. PST on Sunday morning, November 18. "During the peak,
people viewing under clear and dark skies could see meteors shooting
across the sky at a rate of 1,000 to 2,000 per hour, with flurries of one
meteor per second at the peak of the storm," says Robert Naeye, Editor of
Mercury magazine, which is published in San Francisco by the Astronomical
Society of the Pacific (ASP).
During the predicted storm, Earth will plow through a trail of tiny dust
particles left behind by Comet Tempel-Tuttle during its passage through
the inner solar system in the year 1767. This comet rounds the Sun every
33.25 years, shedding dust particles as it is warmed by sunlight. Meteor
showers occur when Earth passes through debris left behind by comets.
But meteor storms occur when Earth passes through particularly dense
ribbons of comet debris.
"During a typical Leonid meteor shower, an experienced observer might see
about 10 to 15 meteors per hour. But during a storm, that rate climbs to
1,000 or more meteors per hour," says Naeye. "This year's Leonid storm
might peak at a rate of up to 2,000 per hour, although it's difficult to
pin down a precise number. The rates will rise and fall over a period of
two hours."
"Of course, these numbers depend on the accuracy of our predictions. But
the predictions have been remarkably accurate in recent years," says ASP
member Dr. Peter Jenniskens, an astronomer and meteor researcher at the
SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, and author of an in-depth
article about meteor science in the November/December 2001 issue of
Mercury magazine.
This year's Leonid display has tw