[PPRAANet] Metorites Tuesday Morning 3am

[W0rw@aol.com]

Whether you operate

Meteor Scatter or not, 
this should be a "once in a lifetime" experience.
You can 'hear' meteors (even in the day time) by tuning in a weak Denver FM 
or TV station and when the
big ones come over there will be a big increase in the signal strength for 2 
to 4 seconds.

i'll be watching for them Tuesday morning, (The metor watch frequency will be 
on the repeater) too bad we need all these extra street lights, they really 
detract from the beauty of the sky...

Paul   w0rw
more info below

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Meteor Storm Set to Dazzle Stargazers

Fri Nov 15, 2:37 PM 


By Patricia Reaney

LONDON (Reuters) - Stargazers in Europe, Britain and North America are in

for a treat next week and have prime viewing positions for what could be the

biggest natural fireworks display of the 21st century.


During the early hours of Nov. 19, thousands of meteors, or shooting stars,

will light up the night sky as they enter the atmosphere at speeds of about

160,000 miles per hour.


"It is a natural fireworks display, a celestial spectacle," professor Mark

Bailey, of the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland, told Reuters Friday.


Known as the Leonids because they originate in the constellation Leo, the

meteor storm will occur in two bursts during the night of Nov. 18 to 19.


Britain and Europe will have the best views for the first burst of the

shower that scientists predict will occur at about 10:30 p.m. EST and

residents in North America are best placed to see the second barrage at

about 5:30 a.m. EST.


"You have two components to the shower, two parts of the world that are

potentially able to observe it," Bailey added.

Although a full moon might dull the spectacle a bit, this year's storm could

be the biggest for the next 100 years, with 1,000 meteors per hour trailing

across the sky in the first burst and as many as 6,000 per hour during the

second.


"The U.S. is better off than we are but on the other hand a thousand in an

hour is probably more than most people see in a lifetime," Bailey said.


METEORIC DEBRIS


Meteors are bits of rock and dust that hit the Earth's atmosphere, heat up

and glow. Most vaporize as they descend but some explode.


The Leonids are debris from the comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. About every 33

years the comet returns to the inner solar system and releases materials

that form new dust trails that stretch from the comet many millions of miles

away.


The comet is due to return to the inner solar system around 2033 and 2066

but the meteor storms are not expected to be as spectacular.

"The Earth just happens to be going through this very fine trail of meteoric

debris. That trail that we run into at four in the morning Tuesday the 19th

was emitted during its passage around the sun in 1767," Bailey said.


The trail the Earth will pass through during the second part of the storm

was emitted 1866.


Thanks to calculating techniques developed by David Asher, of the Armagh

Observatory, and Robert McNaught, of the Australian National University,

Bailey said, meteor storm prediction has become more precise.


"If the weather forecast sounds like it may be vaguely clear, it will be

well worth it," he said.