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(meteorobs) LEONID excerpts from "CCNet 120/2001 - 15 November 2001"
I have certainly already forwarded some of the below items under
separate cover, but thought I'd ship off this old CCNet complete
with all meteor-related stories - just as a sort of digest.
Clear skies,
Lew Gramer
------- Forwarded Message
From: Peiser Benny <B.J.Peiser@livjm.acdot uk>
To: cambridge-conference <cambridge-conference@livjm.acdot uk>
Subject: CCNet 120/2001 - 15 November 2001: 'Divine Intervention' rattles
ignorant Science Ministers
Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 11:56:08 -0000
CCNet 120/2001 - 15 November 2001
=================================
(1) 'DIVINE INTERVENTION': ATMOSPHERIC IMPACT OVER SCOTLAND...
Ananova, 15 November 2001
(2) BOOMING SCARY: VILLAGERS TERRIFIED BY THE NOISE OF FALLING METEOR
Daily Record, 15 November 2001
(3) BOOM TOWNS ROCKED BY QUAKE SCARE
Edinburgh News, 14 November 2001
[...]
(5) COMET DUST SHOWERS WORLD WITH LIGHT
Andrew Yee <ayee@nova.astro.utorontodot ca>
(6) FIRE IN THE SKY: STORMY PAST OF THE LEONID METEOR SHOWER
Space.com, 14 November 2001
(7) NASA ENGINEERS TO TRACK AND SHARE LEONIDS DATA
Andrew Yee <ayee@nova.astro.utorontodot ca>
(8) NASA LEONIDS ACTIVITIES: SLEEPYHEADS MAY MISS
SPECTACULAR CELESTIAL DISPLAY
NASA News <NASANews@hq.nasadot gov>
[...]
(11) LIGHTS IN THE SKY & APOCALYPTIC MOVEMENTS
John Michael <jm@morien-institute.org >
[...]
================
(1) 'DIVINE INTERVENTION': ATMOSPHERIC IMPACT OVER SCOTLAND...
>From Ananova, 15 November 2001
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_449682.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscove
ry
Villagers have fled from their homes as a falling meteor produced a sonic
boom as it broke the sound barrier.
Residents in Eyemouth, Scotland, thought it was an earthquake.
The shockwave set off burglar and car alarms. Locals called police but
no-one was hurt.
Experts say the meteor caused a sonic boom entering the Earth's atmosphere
at several times the speed of sound.
Bennett Simpson, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey Centre,
in Edinburgh, said such incidents were often mistaken for earthquakes.
He said: "We have had reports of a number of unusual effects felt in the
area. But this was not an earthquake. It is consistent with a meteor
entering the Earth's atmosphere. It can be quite frightening."
John Sinclair, from Ayton near to Eyemouth, said he had been watching
television when his house was rocked by the boom, reports the Daily Record.
"There was a loud thud and then everything began to shake," he said. "I
could hear car alarms going off as well. It was quite frightening. We didn't
know what had happened."
The Earth will begin to cut across the orbit of Comet Temple-Tuttle and into
a blizzard of meteors later this week.
The shower known as the Leonids, is an annual event but this year Earth will
cut across an especially dense part of it. The most spectacular views will
be over the Pacific Ocean.
Copyright 2001, Ananova
============
(2) BOOMING SCARY: VILLAGERS TERRIFIED BY THE NOISE OF FALLING METEOR
>From Daily Record, 15 November 2001
http://www.dailyrecord.codot uk/shtml/NEWS/P11S4.shtml
DOZENS of families fled their homes - fearing they had been struck by an
earthquake.
But the massive bang that shook their houses turned out to be the sound of a
falling meteor.
The space rock's shockwave set off burglar and car alarms.
Terrified villagers in Eyemouth and nearby Ayton, Berwickshire, alerted
police.
But yesterday, experts claimed the sonic boom had been caused by a meteor
entering the Earth's atmosphere at several times the speed of sound.
Bennett Simpson, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey Centre,
in Edinburgh, said such incidents were often mistaken for earthquakes.
He said: "We have had reports of a number of unusual effects felt in the
area. But this was not an earthquake. It is consistent with a meteor
entering the Earth's atmosphere.
"Something similar happened in Scotland a number of years ago and the
reports were similar. It can be quite frightening."
John Sinclair, from Ayton, said he had been watching television when his
house was rocked by the boom at about 9pm on Tuesday. He said: "There was a
loud thud and then everything began to shake.
"I could hear car alarms going off as well - it was quite frightening
really. We didn't know what had happened."
The Royal Observatory in Edinburgh said they had no knowledge of a meteor
passing over Scotland.
But speculation that the boom may have been caused by an aircraft going
supersonic was ruled out yesterday.
The RAF said there was a ban on any jets going faster than the speed of
sound over the UK
Copyright 2001, Daily Record, 15 November 2001
============
(3) BOOM TOWNS ROCKED BY QUAKE SCARE
>From Edinburgh News, 14 November 2001
http://www.edinburghnews.com/searchresults.cfm?id=EN01191708
DOZENS of families fled from their homes fearing they had been struck by an
earthquake when a meteor sped over their neighbourhood.
Terrified residents of Eyemouth and nearby Ayton, in the Borders, alerted
police after a massive bang shook their houses.
Burglar alarms and car alarms were set off, sparking fears the area had been
hit by an earthquake.
But yesterday seismology experts revealed the normally quiet towns had been
rocked by a sonic boom from a passing meteorite.
They claimed a meteor entering the Earth's atmosphere at several times the
speed of sound had caused a shockwave which shook houses in the area.
Bennett Simpson, a seismologist with the British Geological Survey centre in
Edinburgh, said : "We have had reports of a number of unusual effects felt
in the Berwickshire area.
"People reported windows rattling, houses shaking and car alarms going off.
"This was not an earthquake, though, and is consistent with a sonic event,
either from an aircraft going supersonic or a meteor entering the Earth's
atmosphere.
"Something similar happened in Scotland a number of years ago . It can be
quite frightening. "
Lothian and Borders Police today confirmed reports of the sonic boom. A
spokesman said: "We received a number of calls from concerned residents in
the Eyemouth area reporting a loud bang and shaking.
"The British Geological Survey were contacted and they confirmed it had been
a sonic event, possibly caused by a meteor."
Copyright 2001 The Scotsman Publications Ltd
=============
(5) COMET DUST SHOWERS WORLD WITH LIGHT
>From Andrew Yee <ayee@nova.astro.utorontodot ca>
Department of Communications and Public Affairs
University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario
Media Contact:
Carmen Kinniburgh
Communications and Public Affairs
(519) 661-2111, ext. 85165
November 12, 2001
Comet Dust Showers World with Light
Thousands of falling stars will brighten the night sky this month as Earth
passes through debris from a comet that crossed our solar system more than
three years ago.
The Leonid meteor shower, named for the constellation Leo from which they
appear to radiate, happens every year on or about November 17. Researchers
at The University of Western Ontario will watch the annual display from all
corners of the globe as part of their continuing studies on meteor
phenomena.
Since 1997, the Meteor Physics Group at Western has studied the Leonids to
develop accurate forecasts of meteor shower severity and timing. Using
real-time reporting, the team has provided forecasts of the shower's
activities to satellite operators around the world during the peak night,
including NASA, the European Space Agency, the Canadian Department of
National Defense, and the United States Space Command.
This year, the Western researchers are hoping to identify which of the
various forecasting models are best at predicting the intensity of the
Leonid storms.
"The models get better every year," says Peter Brown, a professor in the
Department of Physics and Astronomy at Western, and manager of the Leonids
project. "When we first began our work, we had no idea when the showers
would happen or how severe they would be. Now we have established the
timing, but we still want to be able to predict the number of meteors that
will fall each hour."
The shower occurs because Earth is hurtling through a path of dust particles
left by the comet Tempel-Tuttle, which last passed through the inner solar
system in 1998. The particles, or meteoroids, move so quickly they can
puncture solar panels, smash mirrors and short-out electronics on any of the
more than 500 satellites in orbit around the planet.
The Western team, as part of a contract with NASA, will observe this year's
shower from sites in Mongolia, Guam, Hawaii, New Mexico, Florida and
Alabama. The shower will be recorded from each location with high
sensitivity video cameras the team developed. A meteor radar system unique
to Western will also record the event from campus.
"The cameras are much like security cameras, but just very sensitive to
light," says Margaret Campbell, a PhD student in the Department of Physics
and Astronomy and an expert in application of video technology to meteor
observations. "The information we get from them is critical to agencies like
NASA because of the significant risk to spacecraft and satellites during the
meteor shower. We'll capture the event, improve our models with the new data
and that will give satellite operators a better idea of what could happen
next year."
In addition to Western's model, other predictions have been made for the
shower by research teams in the United Kingdom and Finland. Many of the
models predict a severe shower this year, with up to 10,000 meteors falling
per hour, says Brown.
"Unlike some academic models, the meteor forecasts have a truth test
attached to it. We actually made a public statement of our predictions this
year by publishing them in a peer reviewed journal, so now we'll have some
fun with our colleagues finding out who is right."
The Leonids meteor shower should be visible from Southern Ontario this year
under dark, clear skies on the night of Saturday, November 17 and the
morning of Sunday, November 18.
- 30 -
Peter Brown and Margaret Campbell can be reached at the Los Alamos National
Laboratory in New Mexico at (505) 665-7134 until Friday, November 16. On
November 17 and 18, they can be reached at the Apache Point Observatory at
(505) 437-6822. Peter Jedicke, spokesperson for the Western Leonid project
and Honorary President of the London Centre of the Royal Astronomical
Society of Canada, can be reached at (519) 474-5899.
==============
(6) FIRE IN THE SKY: STORMY PAST OF THE LEONID METEOR SHOWER
>From Space.com, 14 November 2001
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/leonids_1833_011114.html
By Wil Milan
Special to SPACE.com
The Leonid meteor shower of 1833 is an event of lore. People woke to a sky
that seemed ablaze with streaks of light that were inexplicable to the
average person of the time. Some astronomers predict 2001 will be bring a
another storm of meteors. But history shows that the Leonids are fickle.
Where do they come from? And what happened in 1833? The following article
has been adapted slightly from one that first appeared in 1999.
Zoom!
Imagine that you are driving at 60 miles per hour down a rural highway.
Unbeknownst to you, a swarm of bees is crossing the highway just ahead of
you. In the blink of an eye your vehicle plows right through the middle of
the swarm, and in that instant dozens of bees are splattered over the front
of your car.
Had you arrived at that point on the highway only seconds later, you would
have encountered only the trailing portion of the swarm and struck only a
few bees. Had you been even later than that you might only have hit one or
two stragglers and missed the main swarm altogether.
Striking a few bees with your car is not a big deal, and we wouldn't give it
much thought. But much the same thing happens on much larger scale, not with
your car, but with the entire Earth. The Earth travels around the Sun at a
tremendous speed, over 100,000 kilometers per hour (about 67,000 miles per
hour or about 18 miles per second).
The space through which the Earth travels is largely empty, so there is not
much for the Earth to hit as it speeds along. But it is not totally empty;
there are scattered bits of dust and the occasional little rock, and when
the Earth collides with one the dust grain or small rock plows into the
atmosphere at a combined speed sometimes reaching hundreds of kilometers per
second.
At that speed the friction of the object passing through the atmosphere is
so intense that the tiny object is instantly heated to many thousands of
degrees. The heat is so intense that the tiny grains of dust are completely
burned up in a fraction of a second, leaving only a momentary bright streak
and a bit of vaporized ash floating in the air. If it were night and had you
been looking in the sky at that moment you would have seen what is sometimes
called a "shooting star," the flash of a meteor burning itself out in the
upper atmosphere. On any given night under dark skies you can see a dozen or
more bright meteors, heaven's reward for having your eyes on the sky.
Bigger swarms
But sometimes the Earth encounters not just random bits of dust, but a more
concentrated swarm. In those cases many more than a dozen meteors will be
seen, and the rate at which meteors are seen may rise to 30, 50, even over
100 per hour. These are called meteor showers, and they are recurring events
that take place at the same time each year. Thus the Lyrids meteor shower
occurs in April 21-22 of each year, the Perseids on August 11-12, the
Leonids take place the night of Nov. 17-18 each year, the Geminids on
December 13-14, and so on.
(The names "Lyrids," "Perseids," etc. refer to the constellation from which
the meteors appear to originate. The Lyrids appear to come from the
constellation Lyra, the Perseids from Perseus, etc. They don't really come
from the constellation, of course; it's only an optical illusion due to the
combined directions of travel of the meteors and the Earth.)
The reason that the dates of meteor showers remain the same from year to
year is that on those dates the Earth reaches points in its orbit where
there are known concentrations of space dust and debris. These bits of dust
and debris are not stationary -- nothing in space is truly stationary -- but
they are in orbit about the Sun in a racetrack pattern, just as the Earth
follows its own "racetrack" around the Sun. But because the two "racetracks"
cross each other, each year when the Earth reaches the point where the
orbits of the Earth and the dust swarm cross each other, the Earth plows
through the thin trail of dust and for a few hours we see more meteors in
the sky.
The source of the swarms
What causes these "racetrack" trails of dust is comets. Comets are clumps of
dust and ice a few miles across and they are very loosely held together. As
they travel in their orbits about the Sun they are continually scattering
dust and debris in their wake, and over time the path of their orbits become
one continuous trail of thin dust and debris. The orbits of most comets
don't cross the Earth's orbit, but when one does then the Earth, in
subsequent years, will cross the dust trail of the comet and a meteor shower
will occur at that point each year.
Thus it is that every meteor shower is believed to be associated with a
comet. In some cases the parent comet of a meteor shower can be clearly
identified: The Perseids appear to be associated with comet Swift-Tuttle,
the Leonids with comet Tempel-Tuttle, and both the Orionids and Eta Aquarids
meteor showers appear to be associated with Comet Halley (because the Earth
crosses Halley's orbit in two places). In some cases the parent comet is
unknown and believed to be long extinct, but the dust trail remains to mark
its former orbit.
A near miss
So what would happen if the Earth did not cross the comet's trail far back
from the comet, but rather very close behind the comet? In other words, what
if we crossed the comet's orbit right after the comet had just passed?
Obviously we would be passing fairly close to the comet, and there would be
more comet dust and debris to encounter.
What happens in those cases is that the meteor shower that would normally
take place becomes much more intense. The meteor rate may increase from one
or two a minute to tens or hundreds of meteors per minute, and there have
been instances when hundreds of meteors per second have been seen for short
periods of time.
Those very rare cases where the rate reaches dozens or hundreds per minute
are known as "meteor storms," and the meteor storm that is credited with
launching the modern study of meteors occurred during the Leonids meteor
shower on the night of Nov. 12-13, 1833. Meteor storms had been observed
before, and just the year before the Leonids had put on a spectacular show,
with one observer in Boston counting over 8,000 meteors in only 15 minutes.
But what occurred when the Leonids returned in 1833 was far beyond what
anyone had ever seen or even imagined possible. For several hours over the
United States there was a continual blaze of thousands and thousands of
meteors at a time. One estimate was that over 240,000 meteors fell during
that period, so many meteors in the sky at a time that many people were
woken from their beds and stared at the sky in panic, believing the sky to
be on fire. Many feared that it was the end of the world and dreaded what
they would see at daybreak.
At daybreak, of course, everything was back to normal. Hollywood movies
notwithstanding, meteors typically vaporize in the atmosphere, a few drop
harmlessly to the ground, and there is only one known incident in history
when a meteor struck someone (and she only got a bruise from it). The only
living thing ever known to have been killed by a meteor was a very unlucky
dog in Egypt many years ago. You are more likely to be struck by lightning
seven times in a row than to be hit by a meteor.
The show returns
When the Leonids returned in 1834 it was again a good meteor show, but
nothing like the sky-on-fire spectacle of 1833. The great meteor storm was
back 33 years later in 1866. Astronomers predicted that the meteor storm
would return every 33 years, but it failed to materialize in 1899 or 1933.
Astronomers began to think that perhaps the great meteor storms would not be
repeated, but right on time in 1966 the great meteor storm was back,
particularly over the western United States. During a peak period which
lasted less than an hour there were hundreds of meteors in the sky at once,
and rates as high as 40 per second were observed.
Orbital observations by then had pinpointed the source of the meteor storm
as Comet Tempel-Tuttle, which has a 33-year orbit. Those occasions when the
meteor storm occurred were linked with times when the Earth had passed close
behind the comet in its orbit. But the theory is not fully worked out;
though there clearly is a link with the comet's position, there is no good
explanation why there was no meteor shower when we passed close to the comet
in 1899 and 1933.
No one can say exactly what will happen in 2001, with some experts
predicting a strong shower and possibly a full meteor storm in some
locations. Other experts are not so sure.
Wil Milan is an astrophotographer who has contributed other astronomy
articles to SPACE.com.
Copyright 2001, Space.com
==============
(7) NASA ENGINEERS TO TRACK AND SHARE LEONIDS DATA
>From Andrew Yee <ayee@nova.astro.utorontodot ca>
Steve Roy
Media Relations Department
Marshall Space Flight Center
Huntsville, AL
(256) 544-0034
steve.roy@msfc.nasadot gov
For Release: Nov. 13, 2001
Release: 01-350
Across the globe and around the clock, NASA engineers to track and
share Leonids data
>From Mongolia to Maui, researchers from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
in Huntsville, Ala., will use special cameras to scan the skies and report
meteor activity around the clock during the Nov. 17-18 Leonids shower.
>From six key points on the globe, they will record and transmit their
observations to the Marshall Center's Leonid Environment Operations Center
- -- a data clearinghouse that will provide meteor updates in near real-time
intervals through the NASA Web site: http://SpaceWeather.com
a website sponsored by science@nasadot gov.
Led by the Engineering Directorate at the Marshall Center, the effort is
part of a long-term goal to protect spacecraft such as NASA's Chandra X-ray
Observatory from dazzling -- but potentially damaging -- meteoroids.
"We're collecting this data to analyze and refine our meteor forecasting
techniques," said Dr. Rob Suggs, the Leonid Environment Operations Center
team leader. "If we can better determine where, when and how the meteors
will strike, we can take protective measures to prevent or minimize damage
to our spacecraft."
Those protective measures can range from turning a satellite so its most
sensitive surface faces the direction of minimal exposure, to shutting down
a spacecraft's electronic operations until the storm has passed.
"Good planning is essential, because in many cases, your only opportunity to
protect the spacecraft is before the first meteor strikes," Suggs said. "For
example, Chandra's orbit takes it one third of the way to the Moon, and its
flight plans are uploaded days ahead of time. Once a meteor storm has
begun, it's often too late to do anything about it."
Even though today's satellites are engineered to withstand daily meteoroid
strikes, the risk of damage is a bit different for high-speed meteoroid
streams, according to Dr. Jeff Anderson of Marshall's Engineering
Directorate.
"The 'plasma effect' is more important," he said. "When a meteoroid hits a
satellite, it can heat the impact site to thousands of degrees Kelvin --
rivaling the surface temperature of the Sun. The entire meteoroid is
vaporized along with a tiny bit of the spacecraft."
Considering that meteors are only about the size of a grain of sand, their
potential for damage can be surprising. Their speed must also be considered.
"They're small, but they move very fast -- about 45 miles per second (71
kilometers per second)," said Dr. Bill Cooke of the Marshall Center, who --
along with researchers at the University of Western Ontario in London,
Ontario -- generated one of the primary meteor forecast models NASA is
evaluating.
According to Cooke's forecast, sky-gazers could see up to 1,400 meteors per
hour if they are away from city lights, where the sky is dark enough to see
the faint, as well as more brilliant, meteors. In the Eastern United
States, the shower is predicted to peak near dawn, while in the Western
United States, it is expected to peak around 2 a.m. PST.
A Leonid shower happens every year when Earth passes close to the orbit of
the Comet Tempel-Tuttle and the debris left in the comet's path. This year
it is expected to be exceptionally strong because of the timing and position
of the comet tails.
The material crossing Earth's path this year was ejected from the comet at
least 100 years ago. Meteor viewers in the United States, for example, will
see material ejected from the comet in 1766 -- a decade before the country
was founded.
The NASA researchers, along with colleagues from the University of Western
Ontario and the U.S. Air Force, will monitor the storm from six locations,
each selected based on meteor forecasts and the area's climate. Sites
include Huntsville, Ala.; Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.; Maui, Hawaii; Sunspot,
N.M.; the U.S. Territory of Guam, and the Gobi Dessert in Mongolia.
Thanks to special equipment, the monitoring team has the capability to
detect meteors the visual observer may miss. Using special image-
intensified cameras that can detect faint objects even in low-light
conditions, the researchers will monitor the shower, using the video screens
as windows to the skies. Every hour, the teams will relay their observations
to the Marshall control center, helping to paint a comprehensive picture of
the meteor storm.
Another tool at Marshall's disposal is "forward-scatter radar" -- a system
built by Suggs, Cooke and Anderson to monitor near-Earth meteoroid activity
around the clock.
"Our system is pretty simple," said Suggs. "We use an antenna and
computer-controlled shortwave receiver to listen for 67 MHz signals from
distant TV stations."
The transmitters are over the horizon and normally out of range. But when a
meteor streaks overhead the system records a brief ping -- the echo of a TV
signal bouncing off the meteor's trail. Like the cameras, this system is
capable of detecting meteors too dim to see with the
unaided eye.
The Marshall Center has provided Leonid forecast information to dozens of
spacecraft operators to help prepare for this year's meteor shower. "More
importantly, by comparing the meteor shower predictions to the actual meteor
counts, we are laying the groundwork to improve forecasts in the future,"
said Suggs.
IMAGE CAPTION:
[http://www1.msfc.nasadot gov/NEWSROOM/news/photos/2001/photos01-350.htm]
>From left, NASA engineers Dr. Bill Cooke, Dr. Jeff Anderson and Dr. Rob
Suggs discuss the meteoroid approach angles at the Leonid Environment
Operations Center at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
During the Nov. 17-18 Leonid shower, sky-gazers could see up to 1,400
meteors per hour if they are away from city lights, where the sky is dark
enough to see the faint, as well as more brilliant, meteors. In the Eastern
United States, the shower is predicted to peak near dawn, while in the
Western United States, it is expected to peak around 2 a.m. PST. A Leonid
shower happens every year when Earth passes close to the orbit of the Comet
Tempel-Tuttle and the debris left in the comet's path. Credit: NASA/Marshall
Space Flight Center/Emmett Given
==============
(8) NASA LEONIDS ACTIVITIES: SLEEPYHEADS MAY MISS SPECTACULAR CELESTIAL
DISPLAY
>From NASA News <NASANews@hq.nasadot gov>
Dolores Beasley
Headquarters, Washington, DC Nov. 14, 2001
Phone: 202/358-1753
RELEASE: 01-222
NASA LEONIDS ACTIVITIES: SLEEPYHEADS MAY MISS SPECTACULAR CELESTIAL DISPLAY
Early birds may catch more than their proverbial worms this week. In the
predawn hours of Sunday, Nov.18, the annual Leonid meteor shower may put on
one of its best shows in decades, according to various scientists modeling
the expected Leonid activity this year.
"It's time to set your alarm clocks and get yourself out under a dark sky,"
said Dr. Donald Yeomans, head of NASA's Near Earth Object program office, at
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "This could be the last
opportunity for watching an impressive meteor storm in a dark sky for
decades to come."
Meteors, also called shooting stars, are really streaks of light that flash
across the sky as bits of dust and rock in space collide with the Earth's
upper atmosphere and vaporize. The Leonid shower appears every year around
Nov. 17 or 18 as the Earth intersects the orbit of comet Tempel-Tuttle and
runs into streams of dust shed by the comet. Best viewing times this year
are predicted to be the early morning hours of November 18, with the peak
activity expected around 5 a.m. EST.
They are called Leonid meteors for the direction in the sky from which they
appear to originate -- the constellation Leo. Because the stream of comet
dust hits the Earth almost head-on, the Leonids are among the fastest
meteors around -- they zip silently across the sky at 44 miles per second.
Every so often, the Earth passes through an especially dense clump of dust
from Tempel-Tuttle, and a truly spectacular meteor storm occurs -- the great
Leonid storm of 1966 produced 150,000 meteors per hour.
Four NASA centers -- Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.;
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.; Ames Research Center, Moffett
Field, Calif.; and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. -- have
activities scheduled around this year's meteor shower.
At Marshall, researchers will use special cameras to scan the skies and
report meteor activity around the clock Nov. 17 and 18. From six key points
on the globe, they will record and transmit their observations to Marshall's
Leonid Environment Operations Center, a data clearinghouse that will provide
meteor updates in near real-time through: http://www.SpaceWeather.com -- a
Web site sponsored by science@nasadot gov.
"We're collecting this data to analyze and refine our meteor-forecasting
techniques," said Dr. Rob Suggs, the Leonid Environment Operations Center
team leader. "If we can better determine where, when and how the meteors
will strike, we can take protective measures to prevent or minimize damage
to our spacecraft."
The researchers, along with colleagues from the University of Western
Ontario in Canada and the U.S. Air Force, will monitor the storm from six
locations, Huntsville, Ala.; Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.; Maui, Hawaii;
Sunspot, N.M.; the U.S. Territory of Guam; and the Gobi Dessert in Mongolia.
Each location was selected based on meteor forecasts and the area's climate.
The monitoring team also has the capability to detect meteors the casual
observer may miss. Using special image-intensified cameras that can detect
faint objects even in low-light conditions, the researchers will monitor the
shower, using the video screens as windows to the skies. Every hour, the
teams will relay their observations to the Marshall control center, helping
to paint a comprehensive picture of the meteor storm.
Most Leonid particles are the size of dust grains, and will vaporize very
high in the atmosphere, so they present no threat to people on the ground or
even in airplanes. However, there is a slight chance that a satellite could
be damaged if it were hit by a Leonid meteor. The meteors are too small to
simply blow up a satellite. However, the Leonids are moving so fast they
vaporize on impact, forming a cloud of electrified gas called plasma. Since
plasma can carry an electric current, there is a risk that a
Leonid-generated plasma cloud could cause a short circuit in a satellite,
damaging sensitive electronic components.
Goddard Space Flight Center is responsible for controlling many satellites
for NASA and other organizations and is taking precautions to mitigate the
risk posed by the Leonids. These include pointing instrument apertures away
from the direction of the Leonid stream, closing the doors on
instruments where possible, turning down high voltages on systems to prevent
the risk of a short circuit, and positioning satellites to minimize the
cross-section exposed to the Leonids.
Goddard controls or manages 21 satellites in the earth and space sciences.
It also manages NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System
constellation, which is controlled from White Sands, N.M.
At Ames, meteor experts Dr. David Morrison, chief scientist at NASA's
Astrobiology Institute, and Dr. Scott Sanford, a NASA planetary scientist,
will be available Friday, Nov. 16, at Ames for media interviews about the
Leonid meteor storm.
The scientists will discuss NASA's airborne mission to study the Leonids,
the danger the meteors could pose to satellites, recent Leonid prediction
models and the latest research, which suggests that meteors may have played
a role in the origin of life.
On Nov. 18, a team of 19 astrobiologists from five countries will depart
from southern California's Edwards Air Force Base on an NKC-135 research
aircraft to keep an eye on the sky for satellite operators and to study the
processes that may have jump-started life on Earth. The 418th Flight Test
Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base operates the research aircraft, which
flew previous Leonid Multi-instrument Airborne Campaign (MAC) missions in
1998 and 1999 over Japan and Europe.
Many scientists think meteors might have showered the Earth with the
molecules necessary for life's origin. "We are eager to get another chance
to find clues to the puzzling question of 'What happens to the organic
matter brought in by the meteoroids?'" said Dr. Michael Meyer, lead
scientist for astrobiology at NASA Headquarters, Washington, which is
sponsoring the airborne observing mission.
Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution and future
of life in the universe. Ames is NASA's lead center for astrobiology and the
location of the central offices of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, an
international research consortium.
Information about the Leonid Multi-instrument Airborne Campaign (MAC) and
live Leonid coverage are available at: http://leonid.arc.nasadot gov/ or
http://www-space.arc.nasadot gov/~leonid/
Observers can calculate local meteor rates using their home computers via:
http://www.space.arc.nasadot gov/~leonid/fluxestimator.html
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will host a webcast with Yeomans
explaining what the Leonids are and how to see them on the JPL Web site at:
http://www.jpl.nasadot gov
NASA TV will broadcast live commentary and video of the Leonids from 12:30
a.m. to 6 a.m. EST Sunday, Nov. 18. The broadcast, originating from
Marshall, will feature live video of the Leonids meteor shower provided by a
video camera with enhanced images and animation. If weather and cloud cover
inhibit observation, the broadcast will be cancelled and regular programming
resumed.
NOTE TO EDITORS: More information on Leonids activities at specific NASA
Centers is available from: Steve Roy, Marshall Space Flight Center, at:
256/544-6535; Bill Steigerwald, Goddard Space Flight Center, at:
301/286-5017; Kathleen Burton, Ames Research Center, at: 650/604-1731;
Martha Heil, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, at: 818/354-0850.
============================
* LETTERS TO THE MODERATOR *
============================
(11) LIGHTS IN THE SKY & APOCALYPTIC MOVEMENTS
>From John Michael <jm@morien-institute.org >
Dear Benny,
Having just got in from a spot of skywatching (02:29 UT), I read the latest
CCNet Special: "Comets, Meteors & Myth", and it brought to mind a recent
train of thought.
I'd been researching 'astronomical symbolism' in past Welsh affairs, and a
friend referred me to Shakespeare's "Henry IV".
He suggested I looked in this direction, claiming that Owain Glyndwr's
rebellion against English domination in the early 1400's was regarded as
having been 'foretold' by predictions of a comet that would herald the
uprising. He said you could find references in "Henry IV", so I decided to
take a look.
Not having Shakespeare to hand I resorted to the internet, and one or two
'Search Engine' results later I found a website that quoted the exact
reference:
"[A]t my nativity
The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes,
Of burning cressets; and at my birth,
The frame and huge foundation of the earth
Shaked like a coward."
...
"These signs have marked me extraordinary,
And all the courses of my life do show,
I am not in the roll of common men."
- --Owain Glyndwr, in Henry IV, Act iii, Scene 1, by William Shakespeare
Published on June 15, 2001, was an article by Sarah Stevenson that
introduced the idea that the people of Wales during that period regarded the
comet as a 'sign' of the uprising against Edward I:
"In 1402 A.D., a comet appeared over Britain. At that time, the
popular hero Owain Glyndwr had been rallying the people of Wales to
reclaim lands occupied by the English. With the literary help of the
bard Iolo Goch, the comet was seen as a sign of Owain's uprising, and a
confirmation of prophecies that foretold the Welsh people's deliverance.
Owain Glyndwr's rebellion did not succeed, despite the omen. But it
is a quintessential example of how the Welsh, like others from
civilizations throughout the world, have traditionally looked to the
skies for guidance or inspiration. The majestic celestial realm has
influenced the traditions and language of nearly every culture."
The full article can be seen at:
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/welsh_language/71964
I was intrigued, as this brought to mind some of the symbolism around in
1979 when the so-called 'Iranian Revolution' was in full swing, and intent
on toppling the Shah of Iran and his hated secret police.
The fundamentalist "Revolutionary Guards" (who attacked the US Embassy in
Tehran, capturing 53 hostages that were incarcerated until January 1981)
seemed to regard the comet Kahoutek as a 'sign' of their uprising, and I
remember vividly seeing depictions of the comet with the face of Ayatollah
Khomeini.
Though I kept a file on them I can't find these at present, but I believe
they were widespread in the Islamic world at the time.
As my train of thought continued, I began to wonder how Usama bid Laden's Al
Quaeda network would portray the "lights in the sky" this coming weekend,
when we are expecting what could be the strongest meteor storm in 35 years.
NASA and others have already issued warnings of possible disruption to
satellite communications due to charged particles trashing electronic
systems upon impact, and many articles have recently appeared about this.
The ABC News piece is at:
http://abcnews.go.com/ABC2000/abc2000science/leonids_satellites991117.html
Should any US military satellites get trashed the world will probably never
know too much, but US and other forces on the ground in Afghanistan could be
cut off from all satellite-dependent communications systems. Though if
pagers, cellphones and TV channels such CNN and SKY go offline everyone will
know about it. It will be very big news globally.
As the peak ZHR is reckoned to be best seen from S.E. Asia, especially in
the region of Indonesia, would the Al Quaeda network there and elsewhere try
to portray these destructive "lights in the sky" as evidence of "the will of
Allah" in their war against what perceive as the "alliance of infidels"?
You are right, Benny, to point out the parallels with the current world
predicament quoted in yesterday's CCNet Special:
"One has to take into consideration apocalyptic religions [of today]
to understand the far- reaching consequences of historical impacts,...
After all, the apocalyptic fear of the end of the world is still very
prevalent today and can often lead to fanaticism and extremism....Once
you believe that the end is imminent and that your direct action will
hasten the coming of end-times, every atrocity is sanctioned."
The 'clear skies' we all wish for this weekend could well provide more than
a dynamic light show if a spectacular and destructive storm fuels the
imaginations of the fanatics.
regards,
John Michael
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