>in case y'all aren't aware of it, this year's Leonid meteor shower is due
>to peak november 17th. this is the once-every-30-years biggie, with
>counts expected to be in the thousands per hour. if you happen to be into
>shooting stars, or snuggling under a blanket in the middle of nowhere while
>sipping cocoa from a thermos and occasionally glancing at the sky, you have
>a couple more days to prepare.
Hi mike
Yes, I'm planning for this event. I've picked a site with a good horizon. I
didn't think you (in America) would be getting much of a view in 98...
better in 99. It should be good from Australia and best from Mongolia!
For the Australians, it's 3am-4am (Qld time - no daylight saving) on the
morning of the 18th Nov. It's twighlight at 4am but the actual peak is at
6am, which will be broad daylight :( in the eastern states.
http://www-space.arc.nasa.gov/~leonid/
Another technique that I've been trying is radio detection of meteorites.
The following is for Australia and we have to face north to see Leo...
Mericans will have to face south.
Unfortunately I don't have an FM radio that can be tuned digitally. ie put
in or increment to the desired frequency. All the ones I have in the house
are ordinary analog "knob" type ones. You need digital to put in a
frequency that you _cannot_ hear and therefore tune into by ear.
However I do have a car radio... on that I can select the desired frequency.
The very basic method actually works just fine. All you have to do is back
your car down the driveway, put up your aerial, dial up a station that's
600-2000km away and listen to the static. When a meteor hits the atmosphere
it ionises a bit of air which then can refect the distant radio station
down to your aerial. The sound is a really sudden whoosh.. much like it
looks, if you know what I mean.
I've been tuned into ABC radio national in Rockhampton. FM 103.1 There are
no other 103.1's near me so I can only hear the station or a burst from the
station if a meteor comes screaming by. It works well. You really should
have a station in a line with the radiant I think, but I'm a little bit
confused here.
Unfortunately the Leonids are N-NE and that's Noumea! Rockhampton is NW.
I got a good list of frequencies from the ABC radio page. It gives all the
ABC radio and TV call signs and frequencies. I think Frank (in Melbourne)
could use a Canberra/Sydney station as that's NE and about the right
distance. Of course sporadic meteors can come from anywhere and it doesn't
matter much which direction the station is in.
There is software to automatically log and report the meteors (on the
internet) but as some of it costs or the free ones require a bit of
hardware interfacing... I haven't followed that right through yet... I'm
still looking as some of it only requires you to plug the FM radio into
your PC sound card.
Anyway... this is really simple if you just use your car... it seems to
work... it doesn't matter if it is rain, hail or shine; day or night or
cloud cover make no difference. That's not to say that there aren't
problems... aeroplanes, high atmosphere effects that improve radio
reception, thunderstorms etc. The only thing to remember is that meteor
activity is greatest at 6am and least at 6pm.
Here are a few references:
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/1092/radio.html
http://www.imo.net/radio/index.html
http://www.serve.com/meteors/radmet.html
http://www.serve.com/meteors/audio/index.html
The first and last have sound file examples to listen to.
There are quite a few other sites and some use radar, ham radio, beacons
etc but normal FM (lower end frequencies are best) works just fine.
give it a go! :)
Bruce
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