ARTelevision

Leonid meteor shower to make annual show

November 16, 2003

Sky watchers will be treated to the annual Leonid meteor shower late Tuesday evening and early Wednesday.

This year's shower is not expected to be as brilliant as in recent years, but those interested may be able to see 30 to 100 meteors an hour if skies are clear and dark, scientists estimate.

The Leonids are named after the constellation Leo, the place where they appear to originate. Leo will rise in the east about 1 a.m. Wednesday, but the shower is expected to peak before then, at 11:28 p.m. Tuesday. Meteors still will be visible for those looking eastward, and more should be visible as Leo rises.

Meteor showers occur when Earth passes through or near the dusty trail left by a comet as it nears the sun during its long orbit. As Earth orbits the sun, it collides with tiny particles in the comet's trail. Those particles pass through the atmosphere, disintegrating infiery flashes.

The annual Leonid meteor shower is caused by dusty debris shed by comet Swift-Tuttle, named for the astronomers who discovered it in the 1860s. On Tuesday evening and early Wednesday, Earth will pass within 33,000 miles of a trail of dust that Swift-Tuttle shed during its orbit of the sun in 1533.

For more information, go to www.space.com, or www.skyandtelescope.com.
............................................

It's always stupendous and mind-expanding to lie under the actual universe and look at it. It's even better when it does stuff that we can observe. And it's better yet when it does stuff fast.

Meteor showers are fast sky stuff.
At their peak they can be dazzling.

Of course, as always, it's about timing - and also about the weather - and whether or not we take the time to look up this week!

__________________
create evolution