> The United States can look forward to the most spectacular meteor show
> since 1966 -- and it might be another 98 years before anything so
> sensational will be seen again. The Nov. 18 Leonid meteor shower will be
> "very impressive, rare and something that you'll want to see," said
> Peter Jenniskens, a research scientist specializing in the study of
> meteors at the NASA/Ames Research Center at California's Moffett Field.
> "The August Perseids meteor shower, which normally gets the most annual
> astronomer attention, records a rate of about 80 meteors an hour, but
> this November's Leonids will record a rate over 2000," Jenniskens said.
> Viewing conditions in the United States are expected to be sublime this
> year. One reason for this is the new moon, which falls on Nov.
> 18, when the sky will be its darkest. A typical Leonid shower yields
> about 10 to 15 meteors per hour, but this year Jenniskens estimates the
> meteor shower will have as many as 4,200 an hour at its peak. Viewers
> along the East Coast will likely see the meteors fall directly from
> above, while in the West they will shoot across the sky at an angle. The
> perfect viewing time is estimated to be between 4 and 6 a.m. EST, on
> Nov. 18. "It is a naked-eye event. All one needs is a clear dark sky
> away from the city lights to enjoy the phenomena," Jenniskens said. For
> a sneak preview, a good resource is the Leonid Flux Estimator, produced
> by the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence/NASA Ames center. Tools
> on the site will calculate the best locations for viewing, the optimal
> spots from any town and how active the shower is expected to be in that
> area. The whole show should last 2 hours and create the effect of Earth
> moving through a trail of dust, Jenniskens said. An ordinary meteor
> showers occurs when Earth passes through debris left behind by comets.
> But this year, the Earth will be passing through particularly dense
> ribbons of comet debris. The Leonid storm will occur when the Earth
> passes through a trail of tiny dust particles left behind by Comet
> Tempel-Tuttle during its passage in 1767. Tempel-Tuttle orbits the sun
> every 33.25 years, shedding dust particles as it is warmed by sunlight.
> It first crossed the Earth's orbit in 860 A.D. The earth passes through
> some of the trail every year, but this year it will be particularly
> close. Jenniskens said the next major Leonid storm will occur again in
> 2099, which will be one of its last tours. "The comet will then leave
> the Earth's orbit for good," he said. In November 1833, the show was so
> spectacular many eyewitnesses feared the world was coming to an end. In
> 1966, Americans viewed another excellent stellar show, while in 1999,
> Europe witnessed an epic series of showers. Jenniskens will be
> participating in the NASA-sponsored 2001 Leonid Multi Instrument
> Aircraft (MAC) mission, to be launched out of Edwards Air Force Base.
> The 2001 Leonid MAC campaign follows a highly successful airborne
> campaign during the 1999 storm visible throughout Europe, when more than
> 4,000 meteors rained through the sky at its peak. It was the first to be
> observed by modern observing techniques. "Only an airborne mission can
> bring scientists to the right place at the right time to view the
> Leonids, and guarantee clear weather," Jenniskens said.


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