Ernie writes:

> I would be interested if anybody around the world will be viewing the
>  Leonid meteors this week.  The European area is thought to have the best
>  vantage point.

That's only a guess. It's just a matter of luck where and when the Earth
passes through the densest parts of the clumps that form the tail of comet
Temple-Tuttle. That could well occur while Krakow is in the the middle of its
night -- or it could be in Kansas. Or both (different clumps, of course).

The largest of the meteoroids in the tail are only the size of an average
size rock that you might get in your shoe. But these "giants" will light up
the sky sufficiently that they will more than likely get reported as UFOs.
The average size of the impacting meteoroids will only be about the size of a
grain of beach sand.

Your only choice in this kind of thing is to go out tonight and sit up most
of the evening and watch the skies. If it's as good as it can be, it will be
spectacular. If it's as bad as it can be, it won't be any different than a
regular evening, where you're guaranteed to see at least 5 "shooting stars"
per hour, per observed 60 degrees of sky.

Wirt Atmar