On Tue, 2 Nov 1999, "Spirit Rider" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
All,
On November 17 there will be a metor shower.
The peek times are from 9pm - 10pm est.
The 17th is a Wednesday and this might make a
good feild trip before Thanksgiving. The Weather Channel
did not say the direction they would be comeing from.
Thought I'd pass this on.
The meteor shower coming up is the Leonid, so called because the meteors
appear to be radiating from the constellation of Leo. Each November the
Earth passes through a stream of debris left by the periodic comet
55P/Tempel-Tuttle, resulting in the Leonid meteor shower.
Unfortunately, the best viewing time is after midnight.
According to Jack Herkimer,at
http://www.jackstargazer.com/scripts0SG9945.html
"The best time for North America is Thursday the 18th from 1 A.M. until
dawn. To see it, bundle up on a lawn chair, stay outside for at least a
couple of hours and just slowly scan the sky back and forth." The darker
the sky, the better. The meteors appear all over the sky. Most observers,
under the best conditions, see 10-15 meteors per hour, so you must be
patient. But some astronomers are predicting hundreds of meteors per hour
this year. For more info, check out Sky and Telescope magazines website at
http://www.skypub.com/sights/meteors/leonids/9911leo.html
But that doesn't mean you couldn't see some meteors earlier. And while you
wait you can get a spectacular view of the two largest planets. Jupiter
and Saturn right now are as big and as bright as they ever get. Saturn is
at its brightest in 22 years and Jupiter is at its brightest in 12 years.
If you look due east just after sunset, you will see a brilliant light which
is the planet Jupiter and just about one and a half fists below it, and to
the north, is the planet Saturn. Keep looking along the line from Jupiter
to Saturn, and you should find the star cluster known as The Pleides or The
Seven Sisters. With a good pair of binoculars, you may be able to see 3 or
4 of Jupiter's moons. And with even a discount-store quality telescope you
can see the rings of Saturn.
If there is a local astronomy society in your area, they may be having a
star party. That's where they set up their telescopes and invite the public
to come take a look.
I sure hope some of you get a chance to see it. We usually get too many
clouds this time of year.
Kerry Weiser
Vancouver, WA
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