Star Points for September, 1998; by Curtis Roelle Fingers Crossed For Leonid Meteor Shower Thirty two years ago in 1966 my Father announced that he had heard about a spectacular meteor shower on the news. So after dinner he took us outside to see it. His heart was in the right place, but he had made two mistakes. The first was not taking us outside of the city to a dark sky location to look for meteors. The second was the peak of the shower was the night before, hence the subsequent news report. Still, we did see a number of meteors, which he said were "falling stars." Alright, make that three mistakes. What had happened was a rare outburst of the Leonid meteor shower. The Leonids occur every year over a period of several days centered around November 17. The cause of the meteor shower is that Earth, on its path around the sun, passes yearly through a stream of debris left in the wake of Comet Tempel-Tuttle. This "meteoroid stream" is believed to contain a vein or pocket where the meteoroids are denser than normal. On average the Earth passes through this region of greater density approximately every 33 years. When this occurs the Leonid meteor shower becomes the Leonid meteor storm. The last such storm was in 1966. The next might be in 1998 or 1999. In the past when Leonid meteor storms have occurred they only lasted a couple of hours or less. As far as location is concerned, the Far East is considered the favored spot for the 1998 Leonids. Even so, no significant storm activity occurred in 1899 and 1933, the "dud years" so a Leonid storm this year is not a sure thing. Whether we see a storm or not members of the Westminster Astronomical Society have noticed an increase in the the number of bright Leonids during the past two years. This trend is likely to continue this year. One probable reason is the return of Comet Tempel-Tuttle this past February. According to Astronomical Calendar 1998 (Guy Ottewell) the meteors will enter the earth's atmosphere at a velocity of 71 km/sec (44 miles/sec). The moon will be out of the way so the best views will be had from a dark sky site outside of the city limits. The Leonids are predicted to peak on the night of Tuesday, November 17-18. Meteors can occur in any region of the sky. Their direction of travel will appear to be from the constellation Leo the lion, which gives the shower its name. The best time to watch is from midnight until dawn, as Leo rises higher in the sky. Dress warmly and find a comfortable position. I find that a lawn chair, blanket and pillow provide adequate comfort. Sometimes if you're too comfortable it is possible to fall asleep. Telescope and binoculars are unnecessary. However, a pair of binoculars can be used to observe the glowing "trains" that persist for a short period of time following bright meteors, which the Leonids has plenty of. The upcoming Leonids will be discussed at the next Bear Branch Nature Center planetarium at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, November 17. For directions and reservations call BBNC at 410-848-2517. The Soldiers Delight Natural Area at 5100 Deer Park Road in Baltimore County will be open for Leonid observers on the night of the 17th. For information and directions call 410-922-3044. In other news the Westminster Astronomical Society will be holding its annual Telescope Buyers Workshop for those anticipating telescope purchase for the holidays. The free workshop is scheduled from 7:30 - 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 11 at the Bear Branch Nature Center. For information consult the WAS web site at www.erols.com/roelle/was/. A good source of information on the 1998 Leonids is Sky Online's Meteor Page at http://www.skypub.com/meteors/meteors.shtml. As always, your comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome at StarPointsUSA@yahoo.com.