Leonid Meteor Shower Set To Disappoint

IRON AND ICE

Better days. File photo of Leonid meteor streaks in 2000.

Paris (AFP) Nov 15, 2004
The annual Leonid meteor shower reaches its peak this week but the display will fall far short of the celestial spectacular seen in past years, astronomers say. The meteors show up each November in the sickle-shape constellation of Leo the lion, which gives them their name.

They occur when the Earth slams into a trail of pebbles and dust deposited by the comet Tempel-Tuttle. The debris burns up in fiery streaks as it enters the atmosphere.

In contrast to dazzling meteor "storms" that occurred between 1999 and 2002 when the Earth ploughed through thick wakes of rubble, this year's Leonids will be subdued, say Jeremie Vaubillon and Francois Colas of France's Institute for Celestial Mechanics and the Calculation of Ephemerides (IMCCE).

The Earth will pass close to, but not through, two trails deposited by the comet in 1333 and 1733, they calculate (http://portail.imcce.fr/en/ephemerides/phenomenes/meteor/leonids/Leonid_forecast_2004.php).

The showers will peak at 0642 and 2149 GMT respectively on Friday.

"This year, no more than 15 to 20 meteors per hour are likely under even the best conditions," the website of the US magazine Sky and Telescope (http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/meteors/article_1362_1.asp) says.

Comets are said to be comprise frozen water and frozen carbon dioxide, mixed with rocks, pebbles and dust.

As they come closer to the Sun, the ice melts, depositing tiny pieces of rocks and dust in a wake that gradually widens out as the centuries pass.

Tempel-Tuttel swings around the Sun once every 33 years. The comet last made a flyby in 1998 and is now heading back out into deep space.

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IRON AND ICE

Moonless Nights Make For Ideal Leonids Viewing Conditions

Moffett Field CA (SPX) Nov 15, 2004
The annual Leonid meteor shower is expected to peak next Wedesday or Friday, on the nights of November 17 or19, with observers in dark locations enjoying a moonless view. This year could be special, not because of the large number of meteors, but because of the favorable viewing conditions.

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