Astronomy Pictures of the Day: A Leonid Meteor Explodes; Catching Falling Stardust; Leonid Watching

NASA ^ | 2001, Nov. 16-18 | NASA

[callisto]

2001 November 18

A Leonid Meteor Explodes
Credit: ROTSE Team

Explanation: Last night and tonight, a lucky few may see a meteor explode. As our Earth passes unusually close to debris expelled from Comet Tempel-Tuttle, many sand-sized particles from this comet are entering and burning up in the Earth's atmosphere. This yearly phenomenon is known as the Leonids Meteor Shower, but the location the Earth passes through this year holds promise to provide relatively high activity. In particular, the 1998 Leonids was noteworthy for its many bright meteors. In the above slow-loading sequence, a 1998 Leonid was caught exploding over Los Alamos, New Mexico. In the last one-minute exposure, another Leonid streaks past.

2001 November 17

Catching Falling Stardust
Credit: ESA, NASA

Explanation: This carrot-shaped track is actually little more than 5 hundredths of an inch long. It is the trail of a meteroid through the high-tech substance aerogel exposed to space by the shuttle launched EURECA (European Recoverable Carrier) spacecraft. Like those in the ongoing Leonid meteor shower, this meteoroid is about a thousandth of an inch in diameter. It is visible where it came to rest, just beyond the tip of the carrot at the far right. Chemical analyses of interplanetary dust particles similar to this one suggest that some of them may be bits of comets and thus represent samples of material from the early stages of the formation of the Solar System.

2001 November 16

Leonid Watching
Credit: APOD Montage

Explanation: Will the Leonids storm this year? The annual Leonid meteor shower should peak this weekend and some predictions suggest that "storm" rates of a thousand or more meteors per hour are possible for observers located in eastern North and Central America during the early morning hours of Sunday, November 18. Similar high rates are also anticipated for the western Pacific region on the morning of November 19th. In any event, the 2001 Leonid shower should be dramatic and easy to watch, as were the Leonids of recent years. From top left to bottom right above are spectacular examples of bright fireball meteors from the 1998 Leonid shower as recorded by V. Winter and J. Dudley, Lorenzo Lovato, and Wally Pacholka. A 1998 image from the Puckett Observatory at lower left features the source of the debris stream which supplies the Leonid meteors, comet Tempel-Tuttle.

[Dog]

WOW!

[Fiddlstix]

Bump

[AngrySpud]

I didn't have the energy to stay up for the best. I watched from 1-2 AM, seeing about 100. Back up to watch from 5-5:30, seeing about 60. Good show.

[rickmoe]

why should the astronomers get the best view? seems unfair to the rest of us.

[Luis Gonzalez]

BUMP!

[pgkdan]

Wish I'd seen some. I was out from 1:00 to about 2:00, waiting for it to clear up, but it never did. There was enough of a breakup to allow me to see one streak across the sky.

It figures...we haven't had any appreciable rainfall here in SE VA in about 3 months...haven't ahd a cloudy sky in nearly that long. But last night? Clouds clouds clouds. Bummer.

[Republic]

We were socked in with fog...I was do disappointed. Could see stars directly above only-a very small window at that. Oh well...maybe tonight!

[pgkdan]

What's the best viewing time supposed to be tonight? Not 4-6 again I hope.

[Republic]

I believe it is just before dawn, unfortunately.

Callisto-your thread is fabulous! The meteor exploding and the other shots are a TEN! WOW!!!

[cdw19390]

We caught thr beautiful show off the ocean @ Southern Shores NC, the "famous Outer Banks. We watched literally hundreds of meteors. We even saw a Satellite (sic?)! Worth the price of admission.

[cake_crumb]

Thanks for the great post. We were up at 4:00AM, standing outside freezing - it was about twenty degrees here in Northern PA - and watching the display.

IMHO, it Leonids weren't as spectacular as they were a few years ago, but impressive nonetheless.

Due to our screwy schedule, neither of us get much skywatching in anymore, though we both have good telescopes. The air was so clear early this morning, and SO many stars were visible, that it was worth it weathering the cold for an hour just to see those beautiful stars. I had forgotten just how absolutely beautiful the stars are this time of year.

[callisto]

Glad you like the pictures. I've had the most fun in the last 24 hours...between watching the meteors and scoping out all of the great pictures on the net. I'm hoping they post some from last night soon. It might not be until tomorrow, though.

rickmoe: The astronomers get the best view because they can get access to the best telescopes. :)
Alas, maybe the day will come when just anyone can log onto the internet and control telescopes themselves. We can always hope.

[Kermit]

They say the peak would be at 5am, set the alarm for 4:30am, totally socked in by fog. Went back to sleep.

[winodog]

How can you tell if it is a satelitte or a high flying airplane? I see what I think are satelittes but I cant be sure. Does the sun shine off of them making it a white light or do they have other lights as well.

[Wednesday's Child]

Re: Leonid watching pictures - THAT is what I was so anxious to see!
We got up at 4AM and saw many single streaks but to see a shower like that would have been awesome.
(I am usually the one person in the group who is looking the wrong way and rarely see any shooting stars )
I am very happy we got up and watched the display.....looking forward to 2099!
Thank you so much for posting these pictures.

[mtnwmn]

The Outer Banks are spectacular with or without the meteors. We are on Lookout Mountain in AL and saw the satellite too. It was worth getting up to see!

[Skooz]

I went to bed at 12:30 am CT and JUST HAPPENED to wake up at 3:58. Prime viewing here was 4:00 - 4:30 am. I pulled up a lawn chair and watched the show. Outstanding. More than I could count. Fabulous.

[Eagle9]

You can track spacecraft and satellites at the NASA site I have linked here. To find satellites in the sky in your location, scroll down to Predictions for Viewing Satellites and enter your zip code. Checkout the Home , in upper left corner of this page to see what all is available.

Spacecraft and Satellite Tracking

[montomike]

I watched from Southern California. Had to drive east a bit to get off the beach. I saw about 100 "keepers" from 1:30 AM to about 2:30 AM. I'm glad I did. Lots of city light but I had my fill.