Fall 1997
 
Meteor Trail Photo A Perseid meteor, captured on film by Bob Webb on August 12, 1997 at 0902 UT, using a 50mm lens at f/1.5, from Tularcitos Observatory. 
 

The Year(s) of the Leonids

Dr. Wm. Bruce Weaver
The most spectacular meteor shower of the twentieth century was the Leonids of 1966 over the Southwest U.S. Probably the only meteor display to be worthy of the description "shower," the peak rate was several per second! I was an undergraduate student at the University of Arizona at the time and, for reasons I can't really recall, crawled out of bed in the early morning to stand in the driveway of a student rental in Tucson to watch the incandescent rain of meteors. Too young to know any better, when the shower died down to only a few per minute, I went back to bed.

Made up of debris from the parent comet, 55P/Temple-Tuttle, the Leonid shower is often so weak that it is difficult to find. However, the Leonids display about three outbursts per century; the showers of 1799 and 1833 were made famous by the woodcut reproductions that are usually associated with book chapters on meteors.

The return of the concentrated cloud of meteoroids should be in the next couple years; the best guess is the 1998 passage of the Earth through the stream. Unfortunately, that will most likely peak over Southeast Asia. Last year, surprisingly, the Leonids were quite impressive. The general astronomical best bet for seeing this phenomenon in the U.S. is this year in the early morning of November 17. Unfortunately, the moon will be relatively full that night, so conditions are hardly ideal from any aspect; however, astronomers who concentrate in this field will be out hoping for the best. In some cases, they will be refining their techniques for the 1998 event.

A couple of MIRA amateurs will attempt to make triangulation measures in a joint effort with NASA scientist Peter Jenniskens. A tune up during the Perseids was fairly successful. If you're interested in participating (all you need is a camera and access to fairly accurate time), let me know.

Just as I did thirty years ago, I'll be out to have a look --- just in case.

GO BACK | GO ON!