[Paddlewise] Leonid Meteor Shower

Following is some more info from my astronomer friend.  Also, he says the Leonid is a world-wide phenomenon - hence, also observable from Australia.  Also it is strongly recommended that people observe on both nights, Nov 16/17 and Nov 17/18 - and maybe one more night after that.

Val Stewart from lovely landlocked Edmonton, Alberta, Canada


  Leonid Meteor Shower (STORM?)
>
>The Leonid Meteor Shower peaks each year on, or about, November 17, and
>gives a single observer rate of approximately 10 to 15 meteors
>per hour.
>
>Meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through, or close to, the
>orbit of a comet. The meteoroids are the dust particles lost from the
>comet's nucleus during its perihelion passage around the Sun. >
>A meteor shower is named after the constellation which contains its
>radiant. The 'radiant' is the point on the celestial sphere from which the
>meteors seem to radiate. When you look at the radiant you are looking
>directly along the orbit of the parent comet.
>
>The parent comet of the Leonids (radiant in the constellation Leo) is
>55P/Tempel-Tuttle. ('P' means periodic, '55' means that it is the 55th
>comet to have had a reliable orbit determined, and 'Temple' and 'Tuttle'
>were two independent discoveries of the object.)
>
>55P/T-T has a 33 year orbital period. Although Earth crosses the orbit
>every year, once every 33 years we cross the orbit just after the comet
>has passed close to the same point. In those years, we enjoy a
>shower which is more active than usual. There were spectacular  Leonid
>showers in 1833, 1866 and, most recently, in 1966. Those showers generated
>rates in excess of one hundred THOUSAND meteors per hour -- the sky was
>apparently ablaze during those METEOR STORMS. The storm level of activity
>lasted for an hour, or so, but outside that peak activity was very high
>for many hours, and some activity is detectable for several days on either
>side of the peak. A few Leonid meteors have been reported already, almost
>a week before the predicted 1999 peak. >
>Comet 55P/T-T passed through perihelion in February 1998. There was a
>much-better-than-usual Leonid shower last year, notable for the large
>number of fireballs which preceded the predicted time for the peak. If
>there is to be a Leonid Storm during the current orbital epoch, 1999 is
>the year!
>
>Details of meteor showers are notoriously difficult to predict. (e.g. the
>stream of cometary particles is subject to complex gravitational
>perturbations by the planets, and non-gravitational perturbations by solar
>radiation.) The experts predict that this year's peak will occur on the
>night of Wednesday/Thursday, November 17/18. But there might be a high
>level of activity on the night before (particularly after midnight), and,
>again but at a lower level, on the following night.
>
>The Moon is at First Quarter on Tuesday, November 16. On all three nights
>it will interfere with observations between sunset and
>midnight.
>
>Leo (with the radiant) does not rise until shortly after
>midnight.
>
>Observe from a dark site with the UNaided-eye. (A telescope is of no use
>in observing meteors, but a pair of binoculars may reveal the fainter
>events.) Dress very warmly and lie down to avoid neck strain
>and fatigue.
>
>Leonid meteors will be identifiable by their distribution in the sky: they
>will appear to be coming from the radiant in Leo. There will be non-shower
>meteors, but their positions in the sky and directions of motion will
>be random and unrelated to the Leonid pattern.
>
>You can contribute to an understanding of this meteor shower by recording
>your observations. In its simplest form, this consists of counting the
>number of meteors observed in, say, 10 minute intervals. This is most
>comfortably done by using a tape recorder: give a voice signal with each
>meteor, and do the count by playing back the tape later.
>
>Good luck!
>
>						Doug Hube
>						780-492-5410
>
>
>


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