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The 1997 North American Leonid Meteor Watch

-----------------------American Meteor Society, Geneseo, NY
-----------------------NEWS RELEASE
-----------------------October 20, 1997

The 1997 North American Leonid Meteor Watch 

James Richardson - AMS Operations Manager
Graceville, Florida
Richardson@digitalexp.com

James Bedient - AMS Electronic Information Coordinator
Honolulu, Hawaii
jamesbed@hcc.hawaii.edu
  
Since the last Leonid meteor storm in 1966, meteor observers and scientists
have been eagerly awaiting the next approach of Comet Temple-Tuttle, the
parent body of the Leonid meteor stream, in hopes of witnessing another such
event.  In March of this year, University of Hawaii astronomers K. J. Meech,
O. R. Hainaut and J. Bauer used the Keck II 10 meter reflector atop Mauna
Kea to recover Comet Temple-Tuttle, now headed toward the inner solar system
on its 33-year orbit, and the meteor science community is gearing up to
study the November Leonid maximum.  

Though the comet will not reach perihelion until February 28, 1998, the
Leonid meteor stream associated with this comet has already given meteor
observers enhanced displays in 1994, 1995 and 1996.  This year, despite the
bright gibbous moon which will be present, professional and amateur meteor
scientists in North America will be watching closely as the Leonids reach
maximum, predicted for Monday morning, November 17, 1997, at 1335 UTC.  This
timing (5:45 am PST) favors visual observers in Western N. America and the
Pacific.  In addition to the "classical" peak, which is characteristically
rich in bright, trained meteors, observations from the past two years have
hinted at a newer, fainter concentration of particles occurring a few hours
prior to the normal shower peak. 

Professional astronomers in North America will observe the Leonids from
widely separated geographic locations.  From Waterloo, Canada and Edwards
AFB, California, meteor scientists James Jones and Peter Brown (University
of Western Ontario) will be conducting extensive back-scatter radar
observations -- including the testing of a mobile meteor radar.  Video
observations from Edwards and an airborne observatory will be coordinated by
Robert Hawkes (Mt. Allison University).  Collaborator Ray Russell will be
attempting visual and infrared meteor spectroscopy from the airborne
platform.  Peter Jenniskens (NASA / Ames Research Center) and his associates
will be organizing both visual and photographic campaigns at Edwards AFB, in
addition to attempting to make telescopic meteor train observations from
facilities in Chile.  In the Caribbean, John Mathews and David Meisel, along
with a team of other scientists from Cornell, Penn State and SUNY-Geneseo
will be using the Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico to sample the faint
component of the Leonid stream using a narrow-beam back-scatter technique.
The Arecibo dish is fortunately situated such that the Leonid radiant will
pass directly through the radar beam very close to the time of predicted
shower maximum.  An array of LIDAR and optical instruments will be
monitoring the Leonids at Arecibo as well.

On the amateur side, the American Meteor Society will coordinate visual
observations from diverse locations as far east as Halifax, Nova Scotia, and
as far west as Oahu, Hawaii.  Using the combined forces of observers from
the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers (ALPO), Meteor Group Hawaii
(MGH), North American Meteor Network (NAMN), New Jersey Astronomical
Association (NJAA), and our regular AMS observers, the Society will cover
nearly a quarter of the northern hemisphere.  The bright waning gibbous moon
will be high in the sky at the time of radiant rise near local midnight, but
Leonid rates should continuously improve through the night as the moon sets
and the radiant rises.  Visual observers are encouraged to utilize a
building or other nearby object to make observations from the moon's shadow.

In addition to visual observations, the three operational stations of the
AMS Radiometeor Project (Florida, California, and Maryland) will also be
collecting forward-scatter data continuously throughout the Leonid period.  
Despite the irritating moonlight, all observers are encouraged to help us to
keep a close watch on the Leonids this November 17th.

For future planning here are the predicted times of greatest Leonid meteor
activity in 1998 and 1999:

1998: Peak date / time, November 17, 1945 UTC
Most favored area: Asia.                     
Moon phase: New Moon, 28 days

1999: Peak date / time, November 18, 0150 UTC
Most favored areas: Eastern Atlantic, Europe, Africa, Asia.
Moon phase: Waxing Gibbous Moon, 9 days 

END