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(meteorobs) Leonids - LA County



My wife had difficulty waking me up for work this
morning, after I had stayed up to 4:30AM observing the
Leonids, so she turned on the KTLA - Ch5 - Morning
News.  She knows that I can't stand that program in
the morning, but she figured that it would wake me up.
 
(Mind you, I think very highly of their late night
news with Hal Fishface, but the morning news must be
geared to the nightclub set, those that stayed up all
night.)
What woke me up was their segment on the Leonids - all
the the people who went up to the mountains to view -
and how "the Leonids were a BUST this year"!
Well, from where I was observing (which was from the
viewpoint on Templin Hwy, off of Rt 5 north of
Castaic, CA) my group was one of more than 30 CARLOADS
of people, and from the sounds of the voices and the
gasps of delight from the various groups, it sure
didn't sound like it was "a bust" to me.

Wish I had something unique to report, but my
observations were very similar to what has already
been reported by many other observers throughout
SoCal. 

Next month's shower is my favorite - the Geminids - an
asteroidal debris shower!  (If you've ever been to a
baseball game, you've seen those "hopeful" kids with
their baseball gloves.  Well, that's me at a Geminid
meteor shower;-) 

Bob V.
  
--------------- Attached Message --------------
From: Ron Baalke <baalke@zagami.jpl.nasadot gov>
To: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com (Meteorite
Mailing List)
Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 09:10:36 -0800 (PST)

Subject: Dazzling Display: Early Results of the Leonid

Meteor Shower


http://space.com/spacewatch/leonids_results_021119.html

Dazzling Display: Early Results of the Leonid Meteor
Shower
By Robert Roy Britt of SPACE.com 19 November 2002

PHILADELPHIA - Early this cold November morning the
Leonid meteor shower wowed skywatchers as tiny bits of
comet debris streaked in from space and created
intoxicating blurs of light.

"What a show!" said Phillipe Ayres, who watched the
event with his family in Port St. Lucie, Florida. 
"Even though it was cloudy at times, we were 
able to see many green fireballs streaking across the
heavens."

Ayres told SPACE.com he counted about five meteors per
minute around 4 a.m.local time, but by 5:45 "there
were too many shooting stars to count. The colors were
bright and clear with momentary smoke trails."

Even under city lights, the Leonids put on a dazzling
display, though some observers expressed
disappointment over dim shooting stars and a show that
was not as impressive as last year. The spectacular
storm of 2001 may have left some folks jaded, however.
Mixed reactions to this year's version of the annual
event also seemed to be based on local viewing
conditions.

During one five-minute period under a slight haze in
the suburbs of Philadelphia, 16 shooting stars graced
a patch of the night that was roughly 30 percent of
the entire sky, surrounded by trees. A rough
projection
indicates that during the peak of activity, between
5:30 and 5:45 a.m. EST, an hourly rate 300 to 400
shooting stars, perhaps more, should have been visible
to an observer with a view of the entire sky in this
part of the country.

Skywatchers in rural eastern locations should have
seen even higher rates.

The peak was forecast to occur at 5:30 a.m. EST.
Astronomers had expected hourly rates to approach or
exceed 600 for rural areas. Many residents of the
East, where the show was expected to be at its best,
combated thin haze or in some cases thick cloud cover.

Glowing reports

Observers on a SPACE.com message board gave glowing
reports, one calling it the "best shower I've ever
seen." Though some people reported seeing bright
fireballs, this year's storm seemed generally to be a
bit lacking in these impressive, super-bright meteors
compared to previous years, many people noted.

However, many of the meteors seen by several observers
were as bright or brighter than Jupiter, which shone
brilliantly and hung near the point in the
constellation Leo from which the meteors appeared to
emanate. Many skywatchers who braved the cold until
dawn also saw Venus, the incredibly bright "Morning
Star" that rose in the south-southeast just ahead of 
the Sun.

Activity seemed to be rather slow leading up to the
peak, then for a short stretch - 15 minutes or less,
many people said - the pace was furious.

On an electronic meteor observing list called
Meteorobs, Kim Youmans, watching from Georgia,
reported sometimes seeing "six and seven meteors 
in less than 5 seconds." In San Diego, Joseph Assmus
talled 250 Leonids in 3.5 hours. Most were faint, he
said.

"Overall, I was struck by the lack of brilliant
meteors this year," said Gary W. Kronk, an experienced
meteor observer. Kronk watched from Illinois and
counted 94 shooting stars during one 15-minute period,
posting his report on Meteorobs.

From the desert outside Tucson, Arizona, an avid
skywatcher sent SPACE.com this report: 504 meteors
between 2:45 AM and 4:30 AM local time, and a rate
that climbed to about 50 per minute in spurts centered
around 3:30 AM.

As many as 75 percent of the shooting stars that would
have been visible were outshone by the Moon,
astronomers had predicted before the event.

A full analysis of the spectacle won't be completed
for days. Europeans were to see a good show,
forecasters had said, while North Americans were 
thought to have the best seats.

Behind the shower

The Leonids occur every November, when Earth passes
through a complex network of dust streams laid down by
a comet called Tempel-Tuttle. The comet rounds the Sun
every 33 years, and on each pass through the inner
solar system it leaves a fresh stream of particles in
a slightly different location. 

[The Science of the Leonids]

Over centuries and millennia, these streams all spread
out, mingling and creating a giant river of stuff
ranging in size from sand grains to marbles.

In normal years, Leonid meteor rates top out at a few
dozen per hour, or near one per minute. Only when our
planet travels through a dense stream put down
relatively recently can outbursts like this year's
occur.

This morning, Earth waded into the middle of streams
that Tempel-Tuttle had deposited in 1767 and 1866. The
older stream was to generate a peak of activity over
Europe at around 0400 UT. The newer stream fueled the 
more active North American peak. Other bits of debris
that had been drifting through space for thousands of
years also contributed to the show.

Timing dictated that people in Asia and the Southern
Hemisphere were not well positioned for this year's
grand displays.

What's next?

No significant Leonid storms are expected again until
2033 or later. 
Another major storm won't likely occur until at least
2098. Meanwhile, the Perseid meteor shower, an annual
August event, could kick up to storm level in the year
2028.

This year's Leonid display will tail off quickly now.
Only a sprinkle of shooting stars will be visible each
hour between midnight and dawn Wednesday. 
The next chance to see a nice meteor shower will be on
Dec. 14, when the annual Geminids are expected to put
on a fine display.

Editor's Note: This story was updated at 9:22 a.m. and
will be updated again later today as more reports roll
in.



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