[sac-board] Fw: Leonid Meteors flyer

Here is Steve Coe's Leonids flyer again to print and give out. If you direct to 
Vekol, don't forget to instruct about white light, no facilities and dressing 
warmly!

Jack
  
  
Howdy folks;
  
The bottom half of this email message is a flyer to announce the coming of the 
Leonids meteor event.  Here's hoping it is a meteor storm, or at least a 
shower.  There are lots of public spots for people to see this event without 
mingling with people trying to take astrophotos.  So, just cut out the flyer 
from the bottom of this message, clean it up in your word processor, and you 
have a one page flyer.  (I don't trust attachments).  Please don't include my 
email address in the flyer, I get enough email already without people writing 
me to ask if the meteors are directed by Little Green Men.
  
Hope it helps;
Steve Coe
stevecoe@xxxxxxxxx
Author:  Deep Sky Observing--The Astronomical Tourist
Saguaro Astronomy Club web site:
www.saguaroastro.org
  
   
                            Leonid Meteor Shower
                        November 18, 2001  3:00 AM
                                            By Steve Coe
  
It is possible that a cosmic fireworks display will be visible in Arizona skies 
early on the Sunday morning of November 18th from 3:00 AM until dawn.  Meteors, 
or shooting stars, are the ancient material of the solar system.  They are 
leftover dust and ice particles that did not get captured by gravity and form 
the Sun or a planet.  As the Earth orbits the Sun it passes through streams of 
this material that are left behind from the passage of a comet.  The atmosphere 
of the Earth is thick enough to burn up these particles and when they glow as 
they pass through our air, we see a meteor.  If the stream of particles is at 
the right position we see a meteor shower.  If the particles are thick enough, 
we see a meteor storm.
  
Comet Swift-Tuttle passed through the inner Solar System several years ago and 
added particles to the stream that could become meteors.  We will cross the 
orbit of this comet on the date above and if the Universe is aligned correctly, 
we have an opportunity to see lots of meteors.  Because of the position of the 
orbits of the comet dust and the Earth, these meteors will appear as if they 
are coming from the constellation of Leo, the Lion.  Leo is just rising early 
in the morning, so face East and hope for lots of shooting stars to light up 
the sky.  The brightest planet that is visible is Jupiter; Leo is underneath it 
toward the Eastern horizon.  
  
So, how can I see the show?  No telescope is needed; your eyes will provide a 
great view.  However, the city lights will overwhelm many of the meteors and so 
you will need to get out of town.  A 30-minute drive away from the light 
pollution of the city will provide a much better view.  Also, it is chilly that 
time of the morning, so bring warm clothes.  A folding chair or reclining 
chaise lounge will also make things more comfortable.
  
If you would like to try some photographs, you will need a tripod and a cable 
release to keep the camera steady.  Use 400 ASA film or faster and an exposure 
of 15 seconds to 2 minutes, no flash.  As the Earth rotates, the stars will 
move slowly across the film and appear as short trails on the images.  The 
meteors will be streaks of light that move across the photograph.  Only the 
brightest meteors will appear on film.  Good Luck!

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