by Edna DeVore - Deputy CEO
On the night of November 18-19, the hopes, dreams and careful plans of the SETI Institute's Dr. Peter Jenniskens will be aloft in the skies of Europe and America. Jenniskens is leading two aircraft packed with the scientific equipment and researchers chasing the Leonid meteors across the face of the planet. Unlike most airline passengers, Peter and his colleagues are hoping for a truly awesome storm a storm of hundreds to thousands of meteors pelting the atmosphere each hour. The 2002 Leonid Multi-Instrument Aircraft Campaign (Leonid MAC) is Jenniskens' fourth and final airborne Leonid research program. Why final? The Leonids peak every 33 years, and he anticipates that 2002 will be the maximum for this cycle. For a general history of the Leonids, current science, observing hints for 2002, and a great collection of photographs, check out "The Science of Shooting Stars."
For five years, Jenniskens has led systematic observations of the Leonid Meteor Shower from the ground and, for four years, from aircraft. He seeks data to understand the composition and dynamics of meteors, and the Leonid Meteor Shower of 2002 is the climax of his observing program. You can learn about the multi-national team, how to participate from the ground, and follow the deployment and research flights at Jenniskens' Leonid MAC web site: http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov
NASA and the US Air Force support Jenniskens research program. It is conducted with two aircraft simultaneously: a NASA DC-8 and the US Air Force's FISTA aircraft. These research platforms will fly from Spain where they have been assisted by Spain's new Astrobiology Institute, across the Atlantic to the United States. The team is planning to observe two meteor storms predicted for the night of November 18-19. Astronomers expect the Earth to plunge through the remains of two dust trails shed by Comet Tempel-Tuttle. First, they'll encounter dust shed in 1767 (visible from Europe), and then the 1866 trail (visible from the Americas) more than 6 hours later. There's even an experiment with sticky tape where researchers hope to pick up particles from the meteor shower that filter down to aircraft altitudes.
Alas, we don't all get to fly.
So, when will be the best time in your neighborhood? The Leonid MAC web site has a "calculator" that predicts when you are likely to see the greatest number of meteors for locations worldwide. You can select either a nearby major city, or input your latitude and longitude to obtain a prediction for your location. So, go figure out when to catch a shooting star: http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/estimator.html
Today, amateur astronomers continue to work with Jenniskens conducting meteor counts from the ground. Enjoying meteors is straight forward, "There's one, and there's another." Last year, when I observed the Leonid Meteor Shower near my suburban home, I saw only the brightest meteors because of urban light pollution. Still, it was impressive. In 2 hours, I saw hundreds of shooting stars, including some fireballs that left a glowing trail that persisted across the sky for many seconds. The 2002 shower holds out the prospect of meteor storms of hundreds to thousands of meteors per hour for brief periods of time. Recording and reporting accurate meteor counts assists the Leonid MAC team, and it is a great excuse to get together with a group of friends, stay up late, and enjoy the beauty of a night sky streaked with meteors. For comfort, practiced observers bring along chaise lounges, warm clothes, even sleeping bags (not for sleeping!), hot chocolate and coffee. If you plan to participate in the Leonid MAC research program as a meteor counter, it's a good idea to practice with your group on one of the nights leading up to the 18th. And you might catch an early burst on the nights leading up to the 18-19th. Jenniskens publishes the instructions for ground based observing, and provides reporting forms on the Leonid MAC web site: http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/stormcount.html
As a scientist, Jenniskens studies meteors, the glowing embers of tiny particles plunging into Earth's atmosphere, in order to better understand our planet and the origin of life. For more than twenty years, he's pursued these ephemeral objects to better understand the composition of interplanetary dust, the debris from the early solar nebula and the remains of comets. Jenniskens first became involved in meteor research while a student at Leiden University, Netherlands, joining the Dutch Meteor Society where he "learned to be a scientist among amateur astronomers."