[thechat] Leonids Tonight!

[Marlene Bruce]

Hey all, sorry about the cross-post...

Don't forget about the Leonids tonight!

If you don't know about this terrific meteor shower, tonight is the
last chance you have to see them in your lifetime. The next display
that will come anywhere near this close in magnitude won't happen
'til 2099.

http://comets.amsmeteors.org/meteors/showers/leonidsez.html

I saw them last year, when they were also spectacular--and we had the
added bonus of no moon, unlike this year's full. At one point one
appeared to explode high in the atmosphere directly above us, and
three meteors fanned out from the center making a great, glowing
center of a Mercedes symbol. (Albeit thin.)

Anyway, the peak here in the Bay Area is between 1:45 and 3:00 AM
(most concentrated between 2:23 to 2:47 a.m.), with with a predicted
peak rate of 1984 dust trail an hour, and possibly more.

On the East Coast of the U.S., peak is between 4:45 and 6:00 AM, with
an even more impressive peak rate of 3318 and hour.

If you're in a really dark place (away from light pollution), it
should be really great ... naturally light will impede visibility.

That is, if you're up.

Cheers,
Marlene

P.S. More info about peaks times in different places:
http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/estimator.html