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Leonid Meteor Shower Set To Disappoint
Paris (AFP) Nov 15, 2004 The annual Leonid meteor shower reaches its peak this week but the display will fall far short of the celestial spectacular seen in past years, astronomers say. The meteors show up each November in the sickle-shape constellation of Leo the lion, which gives them their name. They occur when the Earth slams into a trail of pebbles and dust deposited by the comet Tempel-Tuttle. The debris burns up in fiery streaks as it enters the atmosphere. In contrast to dazzling meteor "storms" that occurred between 1999 and 2002 when the Earth ploughed through thick wakes of rubble, this year's Leonids will be subdued, say Jeremie Vaubillon and Francois Colas of France's Institute for Celestial Mechanics and the Calculation of Ephemerides (IMCCE). The Earth will pass close to, but not through, two trails deposited by the comet in 1333 and 1733, they calculate (http://portail.imcce.fr/en/ephemerides/phenomenes/meteor/leonids/Leonid_forecast_2004.php). The showers will peak at 0642 and 2149 GMT respectively on Friday. "This year, no more than 15 to 20 meteors per hour are likely under even the best conditions," the website of the US magazine Sky and Telescope (http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/meteors/article_1362_1.asp) says. Comets are said to be comprise frozen water and frozen carbon dioxide, mixed with rocks, pebbles and dust. As they come closer to the Sun, the ice melts, depositing tiny pieces of rocks and dust in a wake that gradually widens out as the centuries pass. Tempel-Tuttel swings around the Sun once every 33 years. The comet last made a flyby in 1998 and is now heading back out into deep space. All rights reserved. � 2004 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Asteroid and Comet Mission News, Science and Technology
NASA'S Spitzer Finds Possible Comet Dust Around Dead Star
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jan 12, 2006NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has spotted what may be comet dust sprinkled around the white dwarf star G29-38, which died approximately 500 million years ago. |
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