Jupiter Scientific's annual report on the Leonid Meteor shower; The viewing of the Leonids for 2002.
Information About the 2002 Shower
From November 16 to November 19, Earth
is bombarded by extra-terrestrial debris. But you need
not worry most of it will be dust particles that burn up
in Earth's atmosphere as meteors. Indeed, the event
offers you the opportunity to witness a meteor shower
called the Leonid.
When to Watch:
In general, the best time to look for Leonids is from 1-4 am during the mornings
of November 17 and 18. The morning of November 18 (evening of November 17)
is usually the better of these two dates.
However, this year (2002), astronomers are prediciting two peaks, both
during the morning of Tuesday, November 19 (Note that this is the night that begins
on Monday, November 18). The first peak is expected around
4:00 UT, which is favorable for Europe, and the second should be around
10:30 UT (5:30 am Eastern Standard Time and 2:30 am Pacific Standard Time),
which is favorable for North America.
Where to Look in the Sky:
The meteors radiate from
Leo, the zodiac constellation
associated with the astrological sign of the lion
for those born in August. One
should look in the area of the sky 30 degrees to 75 degrees above
the horizon in the direction of Leo. Leo rises
in the southeast roughly around midnight. So one
should look toward the southeast. The radiant point of
the shower is in the "sickle" of Leo at a right ascension
of 10h 14m and a declination of +22 degrees. The brightest
star in Leo is Regulus and has magnitude 1.5.
Where to Watch From:
The best place to observe is in an open
area (a field, a golf course, etc.) that is unobstructed by
trees or other structures and that is far away from
lights (streetlights, city lights, etc.). The darker the sky
the better. Thin clouds or mist will greatly reduce the number
of meteors that one can see. If there are clouds, don't stay up.
How to Watch:
It is best to lie in a reclining chair. Otherwise, lie on a blanket
with a pillow. It is easy to get a stiff neck if one is sitting
vertically or standing. Dress warmly and bring extra clothes. Do not
use binoculars or telescopes just gaze at the heavens with
your eyes. You
will see streaks of light shooting across the black sky. You
will see most meteors directly; but you will sometimes see others
out of the corner of your eye. If you are very lucky, you
will witness a fireball, a very bright meteor with a small disk. Some
fireballs break into several fragments.
This year (2002), an almost full moon interfers with observing. To
minimize its effect, try to position yourself so that the moon is
blocked from your view by some object such as a building or tree.
What to Expect:
It is hard to predict how many meteors will flash across the sky, but
this year during
the peak, hundreds of meteors per hour are expected.
The shower is particularly spectacular
during certain years (See below).
For this year (2002),
several astronomers are predicting favorable viewing over North
America and Europe. Unfortunately, the light from the moon will
significantly reduce the number of meteors that you can see.
Note that, next year, astronomers are not predicting a storm and Earth will
move out of the 33-year cycle for favorable viewing. Since it may be 30 years before
the next Leonid storm, this year may be your last chance in a long
time to see a good Leonid meteor shower.
General Information about Meteors
Meteors are solar system material (dust,
grains, pebbles, rocks, etc.) that enters Earth's atmosphere and
burns up. Since, visually, meteors look like a star streaking across
the sky, they are commonly called "shooting stars." If a meteor
is sufficiently large, part of it may survive and strike the
Earth, in which case it is called a meteorite. Meteorites
provide astronomers with useful information about our solar
system. (The solar system consists of the Sun, the
planets and all the other objects in this region such as
comets and asteroids.)
Particularly prolific periods for meteors are called
meteor showers. They typically occur at specific times
of the year. The reason for this is simple. Certain regions
of our solar system have high concentrations of debris. Each
time the Earth passes through such a region during its
journey around the Sun, a meteor shower takes place. Many
of these meteoroid regions are created from the passing
of a comet. This is the case for the Leonids; see
Morning is a better time for
observing meteors than evening
because the morning night sky faces the region of outer
space that the Earth is moving toward. Click
here to see a
picture of the situation.
For more information about meteors told in spiritual language, see
book of planetology of
The Bible According to Einstein.
(Comets, by the way, are bodies made of ices, dust and
rocks. When they approach the Sun, they melt somewhat. The
solar wind then blows material off the comet to create its
tail. Observationally, a comet near Earth looks like a hazy
ball with a long wispy tail. Comets are created in the Oort
cloud in the outer regions of our solar system when they
are knocked toward the Sun. For more information
about comets, see the
fourteenth book of
The Bible According to Einstein.)
About the Leonids
Every year around November 17, Earth
enters a region of outer space with significant numbers
of meteoroids. This solar system debris has been created
by Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, which orbits the Sun in
an ellipse that takes it out almost as far as Uranus. During
most years, the Leonids are not particularly impressive about
a dozen meteors are seen per hour at the peak. However,
every 33¼ years, Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle sweeps
by and replenishes the region with debris, thereby leading
to some spectacular showers (see Highlights
in the History
of the Leonids). 1999 was one of these special years
and viewing was excellent in Europe and Northern Africa.
1998 and 2000 were good and 2001 was excellent.
A meteor storm occurs when thousands of
meteors are seen per hour.
Space agencies were somewhat worried that the 1999 Leonids might have
caused damage to the more than 500 satellites currently in
orbit around the Earth. Arrangements were made to
position some satellites, including the Hubble Space
Telescope, to minimize the chances of collisions.
The Leonids typically enter Earth's atmosphere at a speed
of around 70 kilometers (40 miles) per second! This is
about twice as fast as many meteors. The reason for this is
that Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle orbits the Sun roughly in
the opposite direction that the Earth orbits the Sun. In
other words, Earth and debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle
undergo almost head-on collisions.
Highlights in the History of the Leonids
In 902 AD, Chinese astronomers
saw a spectacular Leonid storm. It was recorded
that "The stars fell like rain."
In 1799, a "shower of shooting stars" startled people in
the Americas, among whom was the German naturalist
Alexander von Humboldt. During a four-hour period, he
reported seeing thousands of huge fireballs, often with the
brightness of Jupiter and with long smoke trails that
lasted 7-8 seconds. Some even exploded.
Just before dawn on November 13, 1833, meteors fell
from the sky in eastern North America like flakes of snow
at a rate of about 30 flashes per second. Some people
thought that the stars in Heaven were falling from the
sky and that Judgement day had arrived. Of course, a few
days later, the stars were still there. The 1833 Leonids
were one of the most spectacular meteor displays
of the second millennium.
In 1865, Ernst Tempel and Horace Tuttle independently
discovered the comet to which their names would be
attached. Eventually, the comet's period was determined to
be a little more than 33 years, matching the interval
between maximums in Leonids. The connection between
the comet and the Leonids was deduced. Europeans
observed a spectacular display on November 14, 1866.
In 1965, Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle was rediscovered
after having been lost for nearly a century. It was soon
realized that it would pass the closest to Earth
since 1833. On November 17, 1966, astronomers
in the central and western United States saw a
tremendous storm of meteors, peaking at a rate of
about 150,000 per hour during a 20-minute interval.
This report was prepared by the staff of
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