A RARE event is about to occur. It may not be duplicated or surpassed until late in the century. The annual Leonid meteor shower takes place over the weekend. Generally, it produces about 20 meteors per hour. This year, it should produce between 800 and 4500 meteors per hour at its peak!
Every 33.25 years comet Tempel-Tuttle sweeps past the inner solar system. It leaves a trail of gas and dust behind. When the earth passes through that debris, we have a meteor shower. If the shower is particularly intense, as it should be this year, it's referred to as a meteor storm. Between 3:00 and 6:00 AM Sunday morning, before the sun rises, the earth should pass through a clump of comet dust from the 1766 passage of Comet Tempel-Tuttle. The peak of the shower (storm!) should
take place between 4:45 AM and 5:10 AM. It's probably worth dragging yourself out of bed, and stationing yourself at a relatively dark location, to behold such a spectacle. Just look up - the meteors should be visible over a wide range of the sky. If their trails were traced backward to their seeming point of origin, you'd find that point to be in the constellation Leo (thus, the Leonids).
Meteors, or shooting stars, are caused by bits of material, generally each about the size of a grain of sand, penetrating the earth's upper atmosphere. The grains burn up as they streak through the atmosphere, and we see the trail (not the actual bit of material) - and are often thrilled and in awe of such a spectacular sight in nature.
The Southern Appalachia UFO Network will be hosting a meteor watch on Saturday Evening 11 P.M. to 6 A.M., November 17th into the morning of Sunday, November 18th... Anyone interested in attending should call the sightings and information hotline at (423) 735-0848 before 5 P.M. Saturday the 17th for further information and directions to the skywatch... If no answer at this number please call (423) 943-6477 and ask for Allen... and don't forget to dress warmly and bring those binoculars!
Enjoy the shower! Hope for a storm!
Universal Blessings, Clear Skies, and Happy Skywatching!
Allen McGee
Founder and National Director
United States UFO Information and Research Center
www.dreaman.org < ~ www.usufoirc.org <
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Mailing Address & Telephone Number:Post Office Box 153, Unicoi, TN 37692 USASightings & Information Hotline: (423) 735-0848
Quote: "The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. The evidence has been denied the American people for over 50 years!" ...UFO Investigative Colleague and Researcher, Clifford Stone.
