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Posted on 11/18/2001 9:21:33 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
Sunday November 18 10:47 AM ET
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By ANDREW BRIDGES, AP Science Writer
MOUNT WILSON, Calif. (AP) - Even veteran stargazers were amazed with the light show thousands of tiny meteors gave them early Sunday.
This year's much-anticipated Leonids shower delighted people around the world who stayed up late or woke up early to see it, including a meteor-watching party of about 75 people atop Mount Wilson, northeast of Los Angeles.
Every few seconds at least a bit of space dust burned harmlessly into the atmosphere. The brightest flares left shimmering trails that hung for a few seconds.
``There are the little 'eeee' ones, then there are the 'ooooh' ones - those ones you have to stand up and follow with your head,'' said Susan Kitchens, a writer and artist at the Mount Wilson party.
``I've never seen it like this. I don't recall seeing this many meteors - ever,'' said Rick Yessayian, a sixth-grade teacher in Montebello who for nine years has helped organize the Mount Wilson party.
The shower was less intense than the 4,000 per minute some had predicted, but nonetheless it was a more impressive display than astronomers have seen in years.
Between 800 and 1,000 meteors were falling an hour at the peak of the shower between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. EST, said Mitzi Adams, astrophysicist for NASA (news - web sites)'s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
One observer in New York reported seeing three to five meteors a minute even after dawn broke, she added.
The Leonids are minute dust particles shed by Comet Tempel-Tuttle. The meteors are called Leonids because they appear to come from the direction of the constellation Leo the Lion.
The comet swings around the sun once every 33 years, leaving a trail of dust. Each November, the Earth's orbit takes it through that slowly dissipating trail.
Comet Tempel-Tuttle most recently passed close to the sun in February 1998. However, the dust particles seen as shooting stars across North America on Sunday were shed during a 1766 pass.
Those particles, each no larger than a grain of sand, enter the atmosphere traveling 45 miles a second. When they meet the friction of air molecules, they burn up harmlessly, leaving only a brilliant streak of light.
But for the estimated 630 operational satellites in orbit around the Earth, the particles can be deadly. Many satellite operators, in preparation for the shower, turn the spacecraft to shield them from the meteoroids or shut down electronic operations.
In 1966, observers couldn't count the shooting stars fast enough. Estimates ranged as high as 150,000 per hour. Astronomers expect another such shower in 2099. Next year Leonid watchers probably will be foiled by a full moon, which is expected to wash out the sky with its brightness.
Comets are believed to contain pristine examples of the materials that coalesced 4.5 billion years ago to form the solar system. The frozen balls of ice and debris are rich with basic elements like iron, as well as carbon-based molecules. Some scientists believe this is how Earth was seeded with organic compounds when it was repeatedly pelted with comets early in its history.
At least four U.S. and European spacecraft missions are expected to study comets from up close over the next decade.
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On the Net:
http://leonids.arc.nasa.gov
http://LeonidsLive.com
A meteor streaks through the sky over Joshua Tree National Monument in the Southern California desert, one of hundreds seen in the early morning hours of Sunday, Nov. 18, 2001. The meteor's fiery entry into Earth's atmosphere takes just about a second in this time exposure of one minute, causing slight blurring of the stars in the sky. This year's much-anticipated Leonids shower delighted people around the world who stayed up late or woke up early to see it. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
We drove up to high elevation in the Sierras. The ‘peak' activity was later than the 2AM estimate - but had a great two-hour plus preview - and the encore continued all the way home, of course much less visible at lower elevations through dirty air, light pollution and haze. As I drove up, I wondered if the long trip up and back was going to be worth it. It was more than that - it was fantastic beyond anything I had expected - and beat the ‘estimates' of 12-13 per minute by a long shot.
By 2:50AM, things got hot - and ran that way for about 45 minutes at an average of about 3 per-second (180 a minute) - with a few blasts of over 200 per minute. We were astounded that meteors were raining all around us - basically from horizon to horizon in all directions simultaneously, accented at times with normal meteor activity of non-Leonid variety, and one corkscrewing re-entry of some space junk. Some trails covered much of the sky, others were a mere blip - and some were ‘skippers' which hit the atmosphere bounced out, then re-entered a millisecond later to burn up. The range of colors was surprising - mostly a bright white blazing head with sparkling tails of lesser white - but some ran light pink, others faint green - but a few were a more pronounced red or green.
Some Jefferson Cop gave me a ticket a few weeks ago on 23, no seatbelt.
Far out.
The most interesting thing we saw was the neighbor's kid coming home at that time.Well, please let us know when you find out what's happenin' there, ok?? LOL!
I'm envious. Clouds moved in 1-2 a.m. and I stayed up late just to check it out - for naught. Glad to get happy news from other FReepers that had better luck than me, though!! ;-)
Not much. I got up at 1:15 a.m. and watched until 2:00 a.m. when the clouds moved in and covered the sky. In that time I saw about 5 streak across the sky. I was very disappointed. I was expecting to see something like I saw as a young girl, in 1949, in Seattle. I remember seeing what appeared like every star in the sky was falling.
While I was out I heard a coyote howl, which got the neighbor's dogs going, which started another neighbor's rooster crowing, which got my rooster started. They then proceeded to chat for about 5 minutes before they went back to sleep. Other than that, it was a pretty quiet night around here.
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