Leonids on November 18

pagen writes: "Better meteor shower than most living folks have ever seen! "The perfect viewing time is estimated to be between 4 and 6 a.m. EST, on Nov. 18.""

meteors!

[b-side.org]

Ah, man, I remember the perseids back in '92 or so.. Was watching it from a hottub in a friend's back yard.

Hmm.. I wonder if any big ones will smack into us. :P

Leonids in Europe.

[eibhear]

By all accounts, the Leonids will be less than their normal spectacle this year in Europe. Maximum frequency expected to be about 500 per hour.

Éibhear.

Re:Leonids in Europe.

[eibhear]

According to the magazine of Astronomy Ireland [astronomy.ie], Astronomy & Space, Leonids maximum will be about 14:00 GMT on the 17th of November. Mind you, you should be able to see increased meteor activity for a day or so either side of the 17th.

Éibhear

Isn't it a bit early to be posting this?

[John Harrison]

Most meteor shower items show up a day or two before the show. Michael already posted an article [slashdot.org] mentioning this one. Are we going to have one article a day on this for the next two weeks?

Re:Isn't it a bit early to be posting this?

[Man of E]

Of course, this one made it to Slashdot now because it showed up on ArsTechnica [infopop.net] yesterday, and people just started submitting en masse.

What's interesting is that in Michael's previous story, the Leonids were "expected to peak around 15,000 per hour". Now the estimate is around 4,200.
Wonder what the estimate will be in two weeks...

Maybe a storm this year?

[wnknisely]

I know that every year for the last couple of years, there's been people predicting that this will be the year that Leonids develop storm like rates... and I've taken my Astro. classes out and we've frozen our collective butts off waiting.

But...

Here's a site (http://www.aero.org/leonid/encounterData.html) that is predicting a ZHR (zenith hourly rate) of meteors during the height of the shower on the order of 1000-3000. Works out to one a second or so - which while not totally amazing - would be a much higher rate than I've ever seen.

They've got two models and both seem to be in relative agreement. It all depends on how the Earth is oriented and moving through the comet trail and the exact geometry of the dust distribution in the trail. But what the heck - I've hung out before, maybe this will be my year to get lucky!

The page to answer all questions

[Man of E]

The Armagh Observatory [arm.ac.uk] has perhaps the best page about the Leonids that I've found online. It includes information about predictions, rates, storm likelihood, America vs Asia, danger to spacecraft, viewing and photography tips. Try it.

Leonids always in the winter?

[Sloppy]

Geez, it always seems like this happens when it's going to be cold out. Can't we have a Leonids in May for a change?

Yeah, so?

[robvasquez]

Geeks don't even TAKE showers, but they watch
them?! Hah!

Meteor Shower, or MP3 Jenna Jameson Shower?