[KUXJ]

2009 Leonid Meteor Shower peaks in one week:
NASA -The 2009 Leonid Meteor Shower

[Unknown008]

Thanks Steve! :)

I hope my mother and little sis will be able to see it.

[Clough]

Hi, KUXJ!

What? Another one?

Thanks for keeping us informed about these events! :)

[Unknown008]

This time, it's from the Lion constellation, compared to the last one from the Orion constellation :)

[KUXJ]

Unk, are your Mom an Sis, nearby? If they're anywhere near these locations, it should be a good show!
pix courtesy of NASA


Yes Clough! and Earth has one more to go in December.

Here are the seven major annual events.

Name.................Date of usual Peak..............Moon Phase for 2009
Quadrantids... January 3,. morning, First quarter
Lyrids... night of April 21/22... near new Moon
Eta Aquarids... May 5... sets around for a.m
Perseids... August 12, morning/evening... rises around midnight
Orionids... October 21,. morning Near new Moon
Leonids... night of November 17/18... morning New Moon
Geminids... night of December 13/14... near new Moon



Borrowed from:
SPACE.com -- Strong Leonid Meteor Shower Expected Nov. 17

Asian forecast

In particular, French astronomer, Jeremie Vaubaillon, Russian astronomer, Mikhail Maslov and Americans Bill Cooke and Danielle Moser of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office are all in agreement that material that was ejected from the comet's nucleus during the years 1466 and 1533 will likely produce a very strong meteor display over much of Asia.

"The year 2009 will not see a Leonid storm, but an outburst for sure," Vaubaillon said, adding that "there are still some uncertainties."

Last year, the material that was shed by the comet back in 1466 produced about 100 Leonids per hour.
This year, Earth will cross through the 1466 stream again, but this time much closer – 42,000 mi. (68,000 km) – to the center on Nov. 17 at around 21:40 GMT. This time favors central and eastern Asia (and it comes during daylight in North America). In addition, at about this same time, the Earth will also be passing through dust ejected by the comet in 1533. The consensus forecast among the astronomers for this year suggests anywhere from 130 to perhaps 300 Leonids per hour in Asia, but this spread has been calibrated chiefly using last year's Earth interaction solely with the 1466 stream.

"But nothing is known (about) the 1533 stream," Vaubaillon said.

North America forecast

About 12 to 14 hours before the main event, Earth is forecast to sideswipe a stream of dust that was loosed from the nucleus of Comet Tempel-Tuttle in the year 1567, passing to within 188,000 mi. (302,000 km.) of the stream's center. This interaction could provide smodest activity for North Americans.

The best guesstimate is for perhaps 25 to 30 Leonids per hour, which would most likely target a time frame sometime between roughly 3:30 and 5:30 a.m. ET (12:30 to 2:30 a.m. PT).

For North American observers, the emphasis might be on quality, not quantity; for while the numbers might not be exceptionally high as compared to Asia, a few of these meteors, though visible for a just a fraction of a second, might leave bright trails of ionized atoms in their wake that hang in the sky for many seconds – or possibly even minutes – as these tiny dust particles streak through our atmosphere at altitudes of 80 to 100 miles (130 to 160 km).

And seeing even just one such outstandingly bright meteor like that can make a cold early morning vigil worthwhile.


For viewers North of King Neptune's line...

And South

[Unknown008]

Yes, they're in China until the 20th of November :)

Thanks! :)

[KUXJ]

Your welcome. :)

[Clough]

What about where I live - In the upper midwest of the United States? What can I possibly see, please?

Thanks!

[KUXJ]

Well Clough, extrapolating from this:

The best guesstimate is for perhaps 25 to 30 Leonids per hour, which would most likely target a time frame sometime between roughly 3:30 and 5:30 a.m. ET (12:30 to 2:30 a.m. PT).

Your location in Rock Island, Illinois would put you in the Central Standard time Zone which is one hour behind ET or Eastern Standard Time.
Therefore your "best time" would be between 2:30 and 4:30 a.m. CT, the morning of Tuesday the 17th of November.

Unk's time would be, Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 1:40:00 AM

His Mom and Sis if they are in Beijing, Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 5:40:00 AM

[Unknown008]

Lol, no Steve, in Guang Dong :) More in the South.

[KUXJ]

Thank You for the rep Cb.
Those seven are just the tip of the Meteor Iceberg...

If you go to this page, AMS Meteor Showers page and click on (2009 Meteor Shower Calendar, Direct Link) it will jump to a list of 32 showers that occur throughout the year.

This Link Meteor Shower Calendar | International Meteor Organization, offers seven translations, but unfortunately Български, and Српски are unavailable at this time.

See you under the Stars... k

[rockie100]

Can't wait! Shot a text to all my friends and family. Watching this year is kind of a gift to myself... Birthday on the 21st. Hope to have clear sky... Think I should be looking between 3am - 5am?
Rockie

[KUXJ]

Can't wait! Shot a text to all my friends and family. Watching this year is kind of a gift to myself... Birthday on the 21st. Hope to have clear sky... Think I should be looking between 3am - 5am?
Rockie

Hi! rockie100, and a happy birthday to you! :cool:

There are two standards in dealing with time that the Scientific community (Sc) uses when publishing articles for public consumption.

• The use of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), that can also be expressed as – Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), and – Zulu Time Zone (Z or ZTZ)
• And the usage of the time zone that the Sc that publishes the article, originates from

In the case of Countries that have more than one time zone; such as the United States, then the time zone where the new day begins is used, i.e. – Eastern Standard Time (EST or ET)

Courtesy of:
WikiAnswers - How many time zones does Earth have
There are currently 40 world time zones. There are 24 standard time zones plus 16 areas of the world that use time zones divided into 15-30-45 minute increments. Some larger countries cross several timezones

What all this means is:
The person that reads the information from a scientific article needs to know what time zone he or she resides in.
So he or she can extrapolate/convert from UTC to their local time.



In your case, living in Minnesota you're in the – Central Standard Time zone (CST-CT), the same as Clough.
timetemperature.com - Minnesota Time Zone , therefore your "best time" would be between 2:30 and 4:30 a.m. CT, the morning of Tuesday the 17th of November.



For future events; I've gotten used to this site: timeanddate.com , and this direct link: timeanddate.com - The World Clock – Time Zone Converter .

Select time and place to convert from:

• Enter the time, and date of the event published in article
• As mentioned earlier, this is always UTC time, so location can be left, as is

Then select place to convert to:

• Enter your local time zone
• Click on convert time button
• Read result

If you or any of the kind members of AMHD have trouble understanding how the converter works, post here, and I do my best to help you figure it out.

Clear Skies!. k