The Leonid Shower of Meteors - 1999
November 18 (night of November 17)

Every 33 years, earth passes thought the thickest part of the debris field of the orbit of Comet Temple - Tuttle. This produces a large number of meteors as the cometary debris and the earth collide. 1999 is that year. The last storm of Leonids was in 1966 with over 1000 meteors per hour. The meteors all seem to come from the constellation of Leo (hence the Leonids) because of the orbital geometry of earth going through the orbit of the comet.

Unfortunately for the Americas, Leo will not have risen at the predicted peak of the shower of meteors at about 9pm. Leo rises at about 1am on the morning of the 18th in Galapagos and Quito. Still, there have been variations in the times of the collision with certain parts of the cometary debris so it is definitely worth looking for in Galapagos. The skies being so clear and dark are a huge advantage. Those in Europe and Africa will have the best views at the predicted time though.

For observers in Ecuador (and the United States east coast) look to the east beginning at 9pm and continue your vigil at least past midnight. Some predictions are for more than 2000 meteors per hour. In the Americas, we will receive the grazing stream meteors that typically last 3 to 6 seconds with at least one always visible for while. If the peak arrives a few hours late,  as could easily happen, it could be the show of a lifetime!

November 18 update
The Leonids did have a spectacular display in Europe. Many groups reported constant meteor activity with an intense outburst at 02:15 GMT producing a peak rate of 1688 meteors per hour.

In Quito, as expected, the peak had already passed by the time that Leo rose. I saw only one "real" Leonid" and various sporadic meteors. It became completely overcast by 1am so no more observing was possible after that. The following is a graph from http://leonidslive.com

Richard Polatty

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