dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (11/16/84)
To see a meteor shower, you need a dark sky. More about the meteor shower peaking after midnight tonight -- right after this. November 16 The Leonid Meteor Shower Tonight some shooting stars will appear radiating from a point in the head of the constellation Leo the lion. These streaks in the sky are also called meteors. They're really bits of debris left behind by comets -- tiny particles moving in orbit around the sun -- that vaporize in the atmosphere of the Earth if they and our world cross paths. The Leonid meteor shower reaches its peak after midnight tonight -- but unfortunately the moon will be in the way during the richest part of the shower. The Leonid shower comes every year at this time. It's famous for some fantastic displays in the past -- last time in 1966, when more than one hundred meteors per second were seen by people on the west coast. The best Leonid meteor showers come every 33 years -- so the next really big one isn't due until 1999. Tonight's shower will be peaking after midnight -- but the moon is now at last quarter, meaning it'll rise just about the time the shower starts going strong. You could try watching for meteors before moonrise -- or hope to see some especially bright Leonids in the light of the moon between midnight and dawn on Saturday. If you're adventurous -- and you want to try watching for the Leonids -- be sure not to compound the problem of moonlight by staying inside the city. Any kind of lights can spoil your view of the shower -- so get out in the country -- maybe a little before midnight -- and then just look up! Script by Deborah Byrd. (c) Copyright 1983, 1984 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin