[meteorite-list] 'Truly Spectacular' View of Leonids and Northern Lights from NASA DC-8

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:06:17 2004
Message-ID: <200211221738.JAA29036_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://space.com/spacewatch/leonids_fireball_021122.html

'Truly Spectacular' View of Leonids and Northern Lights from NASA DC-8
By Robert Roy Britt
space.com
22 November 2002

A NASA-led team of researchers had the enviable position of an airplane from
which to watch the 2002 Leonid meteor shower. The show they witnessed was
far more than expected.

For a couple of hours Tuesday morning, Nov. 19, Northern Lights set the sky
ablaze with color. These colorful curtains of light are generated by the
interaction of charged solar particles with Earth's magnetic field.

"It was incredible!" said George Varros.

Two days before the celebrated peak of the Leonids, on Nov. 17, Varros and
his colleagues saw a tremendous fireball. These explosively bright meteors
are generated by relatively large bits of comet debris, perhaps the size of
a pea or marble. They are the showcase scenes in the overall Leonids play.

"From what I can tell, the meteor was actually several times the brightness
of the Full Moon," said Varros, who developed the system used to track and
image meteors from a NASA DC-8.

The picture, which Varros prepared from a video capture and provided to
SPACE.com today, was taken over the Atlantic Ocean while the researchers
were en route to Spain. The mission, called Leonid MAC (Multi-Instrument
Aircraft Campaign), was led by Peter Jenniskens of NASA's Ames Research
Center and the SETI Institute.

This year, seasoned meteor observers lamented an overall lack of fireballs
compared to recent Leonid events. Across the board, experienced skywatchers
noted the lack of very bright shooting stars.

Nonetheless, the 2002 version of the shower was thrilling for many
first-time observers and even people who had watched the Leonids before.
During a brief outburst over North America, several meteors streaked through
the sky each minute.

It was also stunning from on high.

On Nov. 19 in Spain, the morning of the anticipated twin peaks, Varros,
Jenniskens and the others barely got the DC-8 off the ground in time, under
rainy conditions, to witness the first outburst over Europe and then head
toward North America in hopes of watching the second flurry.

"The climb out of the cloud deck was slow," Jenniskens said. "As soon as
clouds cleared, we saw many Leonid meteors."

Soon the first burst arrived.

"The storm was sharp as expected, but also rich in faint meteors,"
Jenniskens wrote in an online mission journal. "Several persistent trains
appeared one after the other."

Jenniskens preliminary estimate of the European peak is an hourly rate of
about 1,000 shooting stars.

The DC-8 pressed on toward Canada, arriving just in time to witness the
second rush of meteors. Jenniskens reports that this burst was brief, too,
as observers on the ground also noted. It seemed to occur at 5:46 a.m. EST
(10:46 UT). The hourly rate, Jenniskens estimated, was about 1,400.

An analysis from the ground, done by other observers, suggests the rates
might have been higher. Based on input from dozens of meteor counters around
the world, the International Meteor Organizations says the European peak
produced an hourly rate of 2,350. The second peak over North American
generated 2,660 shooting stars per hour for a brief period.

Estimates of the hourly rates will be massaged for days to come, however.

Jenniskens recalled the double dose of spectacular skywatching he was
privileged to see: "At the peak of the storm, the view was truly
spectacular. A curtain of aurora over the northern horizon emitted pulsing
waves of light into the sky, penetrated by a rain of meteors."

NASA didn't spend money on this trip just to give a few select astronomers a
great show, however.

Jenniskens has for a number of years been collecting data on Leonids to
learn more about the comets from which meteors come, and how meteors
interact with space. In 2000, he published a study showing that the seeds of
life could survive entry through Earth's atmosphere in a meteor.

"It will take years to analyze the data gathered tonight and provide a
wealth of data on the working of comets, the origin of life and the
satellite impact hazard of meteoroids," he said.
Received on Fri 22 Nov 2002 12:38:27 PM PST