Sunday, November 21, 2010

Peaking Nov. 17-18; Leonid meteor shower 2010

It’s been building for a week and now the Leonid meteor shower 2010 is ready for the grand finale. The best time to catch the Leonid meteor shower in the U.S. will be a few hours before dawn on Thurs., Nov. 18th. If you are able to get up really early for the peak of the Leonids, you will see up to 12 meteors per hour for about 2 hours before daybreak. The light show made by the Leonid meteor shower occurs when Earth passes via dust left within the path of Comet Tempel-Tuttle, vaporizing in a flash of light as the particles strike the atmosphere at 45 miles per second. Source for this article – Leonid meteor shower 2010 – when to watch, where to look by Personal Money Store.

Where and when to see the Leonids

When the Leonid meteor shower 2010 reaches its maximum right before dawn, the Earth is starting to enter the most dense part of Comet Tempel-Tuttle’s trail of debris. You might want to look around three a.m. That is when the sky is the darkest right after the moon has set. Look toward the southeast within the direction of the constellation Leo. The "radiant" is what we call this point within the sky. Since it looks like the meteors are planning out of the sky like water from a shower head, it was given this name.

Info on shooting stars

The sun is becoming orbited within the opposite direction of the Earth by the comet debris that will trigger the Leonid meteor shower 2010. The atmosphere is hit pretty fast by these meteors. about forty five miles per second is the speed. A rifle bullet is slow by comparison at a velocity of about 1,000 meters per second. Most of the meteors are about the size of a grain of sand. There are bright streaks in the sky that stay a moment when the particles are vaporizing.

The conclusion of the world

The frequency of the Leonids is going being pretty low with a dozen per hour this year, even though it’s one of the better annual meteor showers. From 1999-2002 the Leonids lit up at about 1,000 per hour. in 1996, there were even more vaporizing in the atmosphere. It was at about 10,000 per hour. In 1833, before people comprehended exactly what meteors are, the Leonids fell like cosmic rain. The sky had been so bright with shooting stars that individuals were roused from sleep, terrified the planet was coming to a conclusion.

Info from

Astronomy.com

astronomy.com/en/News-Observing/News/2010/11/Leonid%20meteor%20shower%202010.aspx

MSNBC

msnbc.msn.com/id/40033447/ns/technology_and_science-space/

Space.com

space.com/scienceastronomy/top10_leonidsfacts-6.html



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