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Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: Leonid Meteor Shower

*Won't be a show-stopper this year, according to the article.  Peak of activity pre-dawn Nov 17.  Lucky observers might see 15 to 20 per hour.

Weak meteor shower due. Later in November comes the annual Leonid meteor shower. It should peak before the first light of dawn on Wednesday morning, November 17th. But this year's display will probably be quite sparse. We're well past the 1999–2002 period, when skywatchers in some parts of the world saw Leonids streaking across the sky as often as once every second or two. The shower's parent comet, Comet Tempel-Tuttle, is long gone from its 1998 return through our part of the solar system, and so are the densest streams of meteoroids traveling in its path. The bottom line: this year, skywatchers with ideal dark-sky conditions might see 15 or 20 Leonids per hour on the morning of maximum. Any light pollution in the sky will reduce these numbers.

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.htm … 14](Quoted from this article)

--Cindy

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We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: Leonid Meteor Shower

*Hi everyone:

Can listen to the Leonids even if you're not able to view them.  Is cloudy the past 3 days in my region, and clouds are supposed to continue...it's doubtful I'll see any Leonids.  :-\

Spaceweather.com is hosting the audio.  That site is updated and archived daily.  The link to the meteor shower audio can be found on today's page, Nov. 16. 

Here's the accompanying caption: 

THE LEONIDS: The 2004 Leonid meteor shower is due to peak on Nov. 19th around 2149 GMT (4:49 p.m. EST). The timing favors observers in Europe and Asia, who might see as many as 60 meteors per hour--nice, but not like the jaw-dropping displays of recent years.

You can also listen to the shower. The US Air Force Space Surveillance Radar (formerly NAVSPASUR) is monitoring the skies above the southern United States. Whenever a Leonid meteor streaks overhead, it records a ghostly ping: sample. Click on the link below to access a live audio stream from NAVSPASUR, provided by amateur astronomer Stan Nelson of Roswell, New Mexico

*This computer won't download the audio; will try it on my other computer later today.

--Cindy 

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We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)