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Invaders from Space! Leonid Showers tonight.
Space.Com, Astronomy Magazine and The American Meteor Society all have tons of information, viewing guides and historical perspectives for you to peruse in anticipation of tonight Lonid meteor shower. Many are predicting a once in a lifetime event, as the Earth is expected to swing through 3 debris trails laid down by Comet 55p/Temple-Tuttle. One article mentions that up to 10,000 events per hour could be in the offing. So if you feel like staying up till 2am pst (10 ut) you'll be able to check it out. I know we've been hyping this event, but, well, we are okay with this.
Clear skies, and good luck everyone!
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." -- Goethe
There are actually two peaks in the meteors this year, one of them before dawn on the east coast here, and another one about 6-8 hours later which is supposed to be even bigger. People in the US will miss the second peak shower, but that means that if you're in Asia, you're in the prime viewing zone. Also, it's new moon, so there's no other light in the sky to diminish the view! Unless you live in a bright city, and then, oh well... (try to get out into the country if possible)
Actually, if the experts predictions pan out there will be an incredible difference in the quantity observed at midnight and the eastern US peak which is actually 0500-0530.
For instance the four major teams that are providing rate predictions show that between 2300-0200 you might see anywhere from 4-160 meteors per hour.
The predicted range per hour at 0500-0530 is 800-3500!!!
Quite a difference I would say.
Leonid Showers Tonight. That is a sentence. Leonid (subject) showers (verb) tonight (preposition).
Technically, it 'showers' should be a noun and Leonid and adjective, but then it would be a sentence fragment. Grammatically it is correct, so I'm happy.
Keeping
If you want to find a dark spot near where you live, the International Dark Sky Association has a page of tools that estimate the brightness of the night sky. You need to know your latitude and longitude for the Java applet.
Ceci n'est pas une sig
This would be the perfect chance for THEM to come abduct a few people, probably rednecks, and then when people say: 'I SAW A FLYING SAUCER LAST NIGHT' the Men in Black would pat them on the shoulder and say, 'That was just the leonid meteor shower.'
I don't know about you, but I'm going to watch the skies--WITH A GUN.
suddenly I feel very tired
I made several telescopes when I was a teenager, and have recently taken up grinding glass again after a long hiatus. I was also pleased to find the Central Maine Astronomical Society is in my area and joined last night while visiting their new observatory.
Telescope mirrors can be made by hand with suprisingly simple equipment. An eight-inch diameter telescope will run you about $250, maybe less if you're creative, for the mirror kit, eyepiece, aluminizing, and mounting.
There may be a telescope making or astronomy club in your area. A good way to find out is to subscribe to the ATM mailing list. Another way is to follow some of these links:
- Chabot Telescope Maker's Workshop (Oakland, California)
- Sidewalk Astronomers (Los Angeles and San Francisco)
- Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston
- Stellafane - Springfield Vermont, where the hobby was started in the USA
Although it's helpful, you don't need to work with a club to make a telescope. I didn't for my first two. What you will need is some books, which you can buy from Willman Bell or Newport Glass. You will also need a kit that contains your mirror blank, abrasive, polishing pitch, and polishing abrasive. You can get those from Newport Glass or from Dan Cassaro. There are other suppliers of kits as well, or if you join a club you could buy the materials from another member.If you don't want to build a telescope, you can buy one. The telescopes made by Meade and Celestron are well known. You can find ads for dealers in the pages of Sky and Telescope Magazine, which you'll find in many bookstores.
A large number of astronomy products may be found through the Astronomy Mall.
Although the price differential for small telescopes like 6 or 8 inches is not that great between making it oneself and purchasing, the cost of purchasing really large instruments is really prohibitive, while large ones are actually affordable to make, comparable to purchasing a computer. If you start off making an 8 inch mirror, your next mirror can be much larger, say 16 inches, and amateurs commonly make mirrors from 20 to 30 inches, and I think there is a 72 inch mirror nearly complete made by some amateurs. My goal is to have a 40 inch observatory in my backyard.
Although I've listed U.S. organizations and companies, telescope making is practiced world-wide. A while back someone from Iraq subscribed to the ATM list and asked for help obtaining a kit. There are lots of subscribers from Europe and a number from Asia and Africa. Follow the links, and maybe you'll find a club in your home town, or at least within a reasonable distance!
I cannot describe the awe that comes from beholding the wonders of the heavens through a telescope made with one's own hands.
-- Could you use my software consulting serv
WOW! Rarely waited more than 20 seconds between seeing meteors; saw 2 at once at least a dozen times; and a couple of times I saw 3 at once! Saw many with long, orange-colored trails. Definitely well worth it!
Background info: Observed from 4:15 - 5:45 AM EST and saw meteors throughout that period. I was located at a state park about 20 miles west of Boston. I hopes to lessen the impact of light pollution, but could not make out the milky way. :(
And it was COLD! About 25 degrees Fahrenheit. I was prepared with heavy thermal underwear, turtleneck, wool sweater, ski suit, two layers of heavy socks, heavy boots, wool hat, and ski gloves... and I still got cold! Glad I brought a thermos of hot coffee!
Something on the order of 75 cars were parked in the lot and along the roadway to it, so there was a goodly number of us watching together. It was really something to hear simultaneous "Ooooo"s and "Ahhhhh"s!
We had a good night too. Good weather, although there was still a
fair bit of skyglow near the horizon. Couldn't see the Milky Way, but
we had a view where we could lie down and see nearly all the night sky
at once. Although juding from the oohs and aahs when I didn't see
anything, there were some I was missing, maybe 5%, mostly from people
standing up looking near the horizon where I wasn't paying as much
attention since it was brighter. But most of the ones I saw were
plenty bright. It wasn't like there were many that I could just
barely see. Or maybe I just didn't notice those for all the bright
ones. I think the show was still going when twilight cut us off.
I'll know the rate once I play back the audio tape, but we
probably saw a few hundred total. The most spectacular were the long
bright green ones that left a trail that stuck around for several
seconds afterwards. A few even had a second burt. Probably 10-20
really bright ones with green tails. One was audible. Several times
there were multiple meteors visible at once. In any case,
it was a great show. Now need to get ready for my trip.
Drove way outta the LA city lights up to Wrightwood. Got the families and kids together with lawn chairs, munchies, and good hot coffee. Great show! Saw quite a few leaving a serious trail of sparks behind them. Stayed up there until about 2:30am.
Heck, on the way home passing by the lights of the San Fernando Valley (a bit north of LA) I could see them still coming down through the windshield of the car. This is with a ton of light from the city lights, not to mention the other cars.
After everyone else went to bed I went back outside and could still see a tremendous show, again even with the lights of the city near by. It was still worth it to drive out to the darker parts as the show was just that much better.
Next time (2099) I've got plans to bring more coffee along!
The line must be drawn here. This far. No further.
I just returned from the Serria Mnts. on the CA side near Truckee, I must of seen a couple of hundred really bright flashes, and about 5 red fireballs. I also noticed that I was not alone even though I was well off the beaten path. 20 or 30 observes stopped and watched from 1230am to 330am. So now I am back at work (in SF) with no sleep and a full plate of Java programming to do. I hope many of you tore yourself away from your new xbox long enough to venture a look see. Check my URL in a few days and I will post the images I got with my night vision equipment.
"Get them before they get....