Leonid Meteor Shower 2002

Jacer writes "Adler press reports that 'approximately every 33 years the Leonid Meteor shower becomes a breathtaking meteor storm -- capable of illuminating the night sky with thousands of meteors per hour. Astronomers predict that the height of the storm over North America in 2002 could possibly generate 40 meteors every minute -- over 2,400 per hour!' Space.com has plenty of information available. I wanted to submit it early so you could plan ahead. It'd make for a long work or school day, but it's not something I'd care to miss."

Comments

The morning on November 19th

[Adam Rightmann]

is the peak. A little detail that would have been better in the introductory text.

Re:The morning on November 19th

[polymath69]

Morning for which time zone?

Basically for every time zone. You see, as the Earth rotates on its axis, it is also orbiting the sun. Some part of the Earth has to be plowing headlong into the trail of dust. And that has to happen at either the "dawn" line or the "sunset" line (think about it.)

If the Earth spun the other way 'round, meteor showers would always be best just after sunset. But, sadly, I was not consulted during the design phase...

Now that's the general principle. In this case, astronomers are predicting two particularly dense sections of the dust trail, one intersecting Earth's orbit at dawn Europe, and another around dawn East Coast Americas. But even people not in these locations should see the best local view at about an hour before sunrise.

Gonna do it again

[r_j_prahad]

Last year I went camping out in the Arizona desert to watch these. I'll be going back there again this year as well.

Something I discovered last year... if you plan on doing any time exposure photography, don't leave the shutter open for as long as you normally would for a night sky photo. I ended up with a lot of fogged prints because of the high occurence of super-bright meteoroids. You know the ones I mean, the kind you can almost read by, the ones that leave fluorescing smoke trails that seem to linger for five or ten seconds.

And too bad I get drug screened where I work, it could've been a "wow - bitchin'" night.

Re:Rerun...

[chacha]

The Leonids happen every year, but on some years, they're brighter and fall at a greater frequency. It all depends on exactly how Earth passes through the Leonid stream from Comet Temple-Tuttle, which passes near our orbit every 33 years. However, even if the comet isn't there, its dust trails from previous orbits still are, and the big Leonid years are the years when we'll be passing through a more recent trail. Last year was supposed to be a Big Year because we passed through 2 dust trails. If this year is anything at all like last year, it should be a heck of a sight...

Now, if only there weren't that pesky nearly-full moon at the same time.

You're gonna get mooned...

[aiabx]

Keep in mind this is two days before the full moon, so you're going to miss a lot of low magnitude meteors.
-aiabx

Take a photo, it lasts longer

[Cecil]

Seriously though, I know I plan on attempting to take some pictures this year, and hopefully something will turn out. For those of you complaining about a full moon, the moon doesn't rise until late in the night, which should give plenty of good photography time, particularly for those of us on the west coast.

If anyone else is interested in this sort of thing but isn't sure how to get started or what you need, this very good beginner's guide makes for good reading.

Obligatory tips for first timers :-)

[Pat__]

A couple of tips for the first timers.
- Get away from the city lights (and pullotion) as much as possible.
- Have a good field of view because they will be all over the sky not just in the vicinity of Leo
- Do NOT concentrate at the spot where they will come from (Leo) rather about 40 degrees away, as odd as this may seem, the shooting stars around Leo won't leave a long trail (they will be coming towards you ) and you won't be seing much.

Last Leonid shower for donkeys'

[devnulljapan]

But it looks like this will be the last Leonid shower for quite a while.

As the comet Tempel-Tuttle approaches the Sun toward a May 2031 perihelion, it will pass within 1.5 a.u. of Jupiter in August 2029. This encounter will push the comet closer to the Sun and increase the distance between Earth's orbit and the comet's to 0.0162 a.u. -- their largest separation since 1733. Such a large gulf between the two orbits may preclude any substantial meteor activity for the year 2031, and for several years thereafter, when the next cycle of Leonid storms would normally be expected.

In examining this next Leonid cycle, McNaught has found three outlying dust trails that the Earth will approach in the years 2033 and 2034. "Unfortunately," he notes, "they are probably too distant for any reasonable chance of high activity."

There will be little improvement at the comet's subsequent return in 2065, for the separation between the orbits of the comet and the Earth will have diminished only slightly to 0.0146 a.u.

In 2098 the separation of the orbits shrinks to 0.0062 a.u. And in 2131, for the first time since 1633, the comet crosses our orbital plane slightly outside the Earth's orbit at a distance of 0.0089 a.u. Not until one, or both, of these remote years can our great grandchildren expect to witness a storm of Leonid meteors.

So get out there and see the damn thing. I'm in Northern Thailand, so not much hope for me :-(

From my skywatching checklist

[LiamRandall]

If you are going outside don't forget these essentials:

-a blanket you don't mind getting mud/grass on

-a Deet based bug repellent (Unscented Off in the push spray works great)

-a small flashlight (so you don't ruin your night vision)

-take your Allegra _before_ you leave

-pants/long sleeves if you're bothered by bugs

And I would recommend:

-pillows

-snacks (Thermos w/ Hot Chocolate/Coffee, food you can eat with gloves on)

-spare jacket, sweater, gloves (layers!)

-wine

-small radio (I prefer a short-wave; in the middle of no where you can usually pick up different stations)

-a date ;)

-xtra blankets to 'cuddle' in

Not a bad night for skywatching...

[hndrcks]

..except for the nearly full Moon. However, during the 'peak' Leonid period (3:30am - until daybreak) there are a number of other fine sights in the sky, many observable with good binoculars or a medium-size telescope:

1. Saturn's upper pole is currently pointed in our direction, which means you can see more of the rings right now than we will for many years to come.

2. Jupiter will also be high enough in the sky for a good view. The Galilean moons are breathtaking. On November 18th, viewers in the northern hemisphere will be able to see Ganymede occult Io for about 3 minutes - this kind of event is only possible to view from earth once every six years or so!

3. The Pleiades, also known as 'Subaru' or 'Seven Sisters', among other names. Very young, bright stars forming from gas disturbed in a supernova. With moderately powered binocs or a small telescope, one can see that the 'seven sisters' are just the brightest of hundreds of stars in an open cluster. An extended-exposure astrophotograph will show the clouds of bluish gas and dust still surrounding the stars.

4. My favorite - Orion, and the Great Orion Nebula. For viewers in the mid-northern latitudes, look for 3 stars in a straight diagonal line, almost due south at 3:00 am and about 2/3 elevated from the horizon to the zenith. Below those three stars (Orion's Belt) you should be able to find two dimmer stars in a vertical line (Orion's Sword) with a fuzzy patch in between (in darker areas). Good binoculars or a small scope will show one of the most beautiful sights in the sky!

So even if the Leonids crap out, there will still be things to see! Get that old telescope out and see what you can find!