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Meteors
Every
33 years,
comet 55P/Temple-Tuttle returns to
the inner solar system and releases material that forms into a new dust
trail. These debris, when hit by the Earth, produce the Leonid meteors.
In most years, the Earth passes far away from the comet's
dust trail, and the number of Leonids seen is low. But, on those
rare occasions that the Earth passes through the center of the comet's
trail, this results in the most spectacular meteor displays. Almost every 33
years, the Leonids turn into a real meteor storm,
producing several thousands of meteors during a
couple of hours.
Meteor scientists
had predicted that around
November 18,
2001 another Leonids meteor storm was due.
I traveled to Flagstaff,
Arizona to observe this celestial show under the best possible
conditions. And the Leonids for sure produced a spectacular event. Although there was not a
'storm' such as in 1966, with meteors falling down like rain, the shower
certainly did rain meteors and fireballs for many hours. The best shower activity I
have ever seen in over 25 years of watching the sky.
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Leonid fireball over
Braeside Observatory, Flagstaff, during
the famous 2001 Leonid 'outburst'.
(c) Tonny Vanmunster. |
My interest in meteor observing goes back to the mid
70's, when I was very active in the
"Meteors" Working Group of the Belgian
astronomical association VVS. In the early 80's, I
formed a European Photographic Meteor Network to
stimulate simultaneous meteor observations. In the
mid 80's, I witnessed the first Perseid meteor
'storm' from atop the platform of famous Jungfraujoch
Observatory (Swiss). My interest in meteor
astronomy started to fade at the moment I got
(deeply) involved in variable star observing.
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Leonids 2001 Expedition
Leonids 2002
Expedition
More to come
?
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