[meteorite-list] Leonid meteor shower to peak Tuesday

[Richard Kowalski]

I saw quite a few in our "all-sky" camera at the telescope last night. Several nice slow, bright Taurids too.

Should be a good show!

Wish I had had my camera set up.

--
Richard Kowalski
http://fullmoonphotography.net
IMCA #1081


--- On Mon, 11/16/09, Greg Stanley <stanleygregr at hotmail.com> wrote:


> From: Greg Stanley <stanleygregr at hotmail.com>

> Subject: [meteorite-list] Leonid meteor shower to peak Tuesday

> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com

> Date: Monday, November 16, 2009, 1:30 PM

> 

> A reminder - Greg S.

> 

> 

> 

> http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/11/16/nasa.leonid.meteors/index.html

> 

> 

> (CNN) -- This year's Leonid meteor shower will peak early

> Tuesday, forecasters say, producing mild but pretty sparks

> over the United States and a more intense outburst over

> Asia.

> 

> "We're predicting 20 to 30 meteors per hour over the

> Americas and as many as 200 to 300 per hour over Asia," said

> Bill Cooke, of NASA's meteoroid environment office. "Our

> forecast is in good accord with ... work by other

> astronomers."

> 

> The Leonid shower is made of bits of debris from the

> Tempel-Tuttle comet, which streaks through Earth's inner

> solar system every 33 years.

> 

> It leaves a stream of debris in its wake. Forecasters,

> however, say it's hard to know exactly how many of the

> meteors will be visible.

> 

> "We can predict when Earth will cross a debris stream with

> pretty good accuracy," Cooke said. "The intensity of the

> display is less certain, though, because we don't know how

> much debris is in each stream."

> 

> The first stream will cross over Earth about 4 a.m. ET.

> That stream should produce about two or three dozen meteors

> per hour over North America, NASA said.

> 

> Experts say people who want to watch the shower, which is

> visible with the naked eye, should get as far away from city

> lights as possible. The darker the sky, the brighter the

> meteors will appear.

> Leonids will appear to be shooting almost directly out of

> the planet Mars.

> 

> 

> High-altitude sites are best for viewing, reducing glare

> from the moon, and there's no particular direction one

> should look for the best shot at seeing one, they say.

> 

> The next Tuesday streams will peak over Indonesia and China

> shortly before dawn there. The pair of streams there were

> actually laid down by Tempel-Tuttle in A.D. 1466 and 1533,

> and the two of them crossing at the same time is the reason

> for the 300 or so visible meteors expected.

> 

> "Even if the rates are only half that number, it would

> still be one of the best showers of the year," Cooke said.

> 

> Overall, and especially in the United States, this year's

> Leonids are mild.

> 

> >From 1999 to 2002, the streams produced outbursts of

> more than 1,000 meteors per hour.

> 

> But one added plus this year, Cooke said, is that,

> coincidentally, Mars will be passing nearby at the time of

> the showers.

> 

> "Leonids will appear to be shooting almost directly out of

> the planet Mars," he said.

> 

>     

>         

>           

>   

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