Posted on 11/11/2001 6:40:39 AM PST by blam
The Leonid meteor shower occurs from about 14 to 20 November as the Earth passes through an old debris stream left by past passages of the comet Temple-Tuttle. The maximum rate occurs within a day or so of November 17 and is usually less than 10 per hour. The meteors appear to come from a radiant that lies within the "sickle" of the constellation of Leo (hence the name). An unusual feature of this stream is that it is often associated with some fairly bright meteors that may leave a trail (called a train) behind that is visible for many seconds, and sometimes even minutes. The meteors travel very fast and the brighter meteors may show a golden colour. In fact these meteors are the fastest of any meteor stream so far observed.
I have often wondered when we will have a space station or a space craft of some other space conveyance collide with something hard is such a way that all the folks aboard are suddenly obliterated. Let's hope it happens sometime if the more distant future.
Can't answer your question. The experts will show up in a little while, stay tuned.
Journalisitic license? No, just plain stoopidity. I wish these idiots had to work for a living.
Also, don't be afraid of the size of the showers, it is simply an optical illusion. The meteorites you see are smaller than a grain of salt...
. . . Be afraid, ye Indians and high-hearted Ethiopians: for when the fiery wheel of the ecliptic(?) . . . and Capricorn . . . and Taurus among the Twins encircles the mid-heaven, when the Virgin ascending and the Sun fastening the girdle round his forehead dominates the whole firmament; there shall be a great conflagration from the sky, falling on the earth;
Are these lines from Book V of the SIBYLLINE ORACLES eschatological nonsense? Contemporary astronomical evidence suggests a historic basis for words describing cosmic calamity. British astronomers, Victor Clube and Bill Napier, in THE COSMIC WINTER (1990) and other recent works, provide students of the past with newly discovered celestial clues which indicate that Earth has been periodically pelleted with comet fragments throughout the Holocene period. The evidence for the break-up of a large (> 50 km), short period (approximately 3.3 years), Earth-orbit-crossing comet is substantial and should be considered as hard as anything a trowel might turn up. What astronomical information cannot convey is the actual effect these periodic bombardment episodes had on human culture; only further digging and sifting will illuminate that aspect.
(I read COSMIC WINTER, a pretty good read)
Rates could reach hundreds or possibly even more than 1,000 meteors per hour. An even stronger burst of Leonids may arrive about 8 hours later, around 17:00 to 18:30 Universal Time November 18th, when Australia and the Far East will have the view.
Some scientist are predicting this could possibly be a fantastic show this year. I know some events have been less than spectacular in recent times, so we will see. Can you imagine 1,000 meteors an hour? Way cool.
Chappaqua and Whitehaven Street?
I read that Osama bin Loser is drawing up a screed about how youse guys is responsible for the meteor storm, spring tides, and morning breath...
They are, however, closer than they appear in your side-view mirrors!
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