Leonid Meteor Shower Tonight

The annual Leonid meteor shower hits tonight, as the Earth moves through the orbital path of a comet. The show is exceptionally good every 33 years, and in 1966 it was so dramatic some people thought the world was coming to an end. No one knows how it will look this year, so keep your fingers crossed. You don't need a telescope, just warm clothes, patience, and clear skies. The Leonids' unpredictability make it worth going out as soon as it's dark, but the peak is supposed to be between 11 PM and 1 AM (EST?). If it's cloudy, check out NASA's weather-balloon webcam.

Comments

Peak rate 2am /UTC/ (~not~ EST)

[Cally]

Times for astronomical events are given in UTC which is the same as GMT. The expected peak Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) of 15,000 has been predicted for 2am GMT.;

Note that the ZHR is a /theoretical/ maximum that would be seen by an observer if the radiant (the line of comet's orbit, ie the place in the sky where the meteors appear to radiate away from) were directly overhead. Actual observed rates are always lower.

Hints and tips for observing :

• No smoking ! It ruins night vision.
• Get as far away from light pollution as possible.
• The radiant rises at about midnight local time in the northern hemisphere, in the east (of course ;) )
• Use a deckchair or lawn chair to prevent a permanent crick in the neck.
• wrap up WARMLY -- good skies == clear skies == very cold !
• Hot drinks (counter-intuitively) do NOT warm you up if you're outdoors.
• If your location is clouded in, set an alarm clock for 60-90 mins and check again. If they storm, and you miss them, you'll kick yourself !

Finally, don't be too disappointed if you "only" get a ZHR of a few hundred. Last year's observations allowed significantly better understanding of the separate streams of debris coming off the parent comet. Predictions are for a relatively quiet year next year, but much higher ZHRs in 2001 and 2002.

Clear skies, all !

North American Meteor Network
Meteorobs mailing list -- NB /VERY/ high traffic at the moment !
--

Contribute to the IMO 'live-ish' update

[Cally]

See also :
Leoniods 99 updates.
American Meteor Society


This is X/posted w/out permission (sorry Marc! )

\a


I N T E R N A T I O N A L M E T E O R O R G A N I Z A T I O N

1999 Leonids: Rapid Information Dissemination
=============================================

Dear meteor observer,

>From earlier communications, you have learned that the IMO is setting
up a communication network to obtain reliable information as soon as
possible after the event in the morning of November 18. We invite you
to contribute to this effort.

First of all, we want to point out you must DISTINGUISH between the
USUAL OBSERVATIONAL REPORTS, such as collected by the IMO's Visual
Commission, and which may be used for detailed, global analyses, and
the "EXPRESS REPORT" described below which serves as sole purpose the
compilation of a rough but reliable picture of the activity within
hours after the event.

The EXPRESS REPORT should have the following format:

Meteo R. Observer
Fireball City (45N 10E)

Time Interval (UT) Lim. Magn. Nr. of Leonids Remarks (if any)
------------------------------------------------ -----------------------
01:15-01:30 5.8 27 None
01:30-01:45 5.9 56 None
01:45-02:00 6.1 156 None
.
.
.

To the extent possible, bin your observations for this "express report"
in time interval of 15 MINUTES.

(Again, the full report of your observations will be different from
this express report, as shorter intervals are required as well as
magnitude distributions and some additional data - see the earlier
posted article with visual observing hints - but the above data
suffice for the purpose indicated.)

If you wish to collaborate with the IMO in this respect, please send
your express report for the night of November 17/18 ONLY (or, of course,
for any unexpected activity you might happen to witness)
*** IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE OBSERVATION *** to the following email
addresses:

wgn@imo.net
gyssens@hcoss.uia.ac.be

The latter is a back-up address in case Web-site access to www.imo.net
would prove to slow down our computer too much. This back-up address
will be active only on November 17 and 18!

Thank you in advance for any collaboration we may receive!

Marc Gyssens
International Meteor Organization

--