“Best Places to Watch the 2010 Leonid Meteor Shower in Orlando and Central Florida - YAHOO!” plus 2 more |
- Best Places to Watch the 2010 Leonid Meteor Shower in Orlando and Central Florida - YAHOO!
- Sky Show Wednesday: Leonid Meteor Shower to Peak Predawn - National Geographic
- Watching the Leonid Meteor Shower in Pennsylvania - Associated Content
| Best Places to Watch the 2010 Leonid Meteor Shower in Orlando and Central Florida - YAHOO! Posted: 16 Nov 2010 02:52 PM PST The Leonid Meteor Shower can be seen two to three hours before dawn on Nov. 17 to 18. Leonid Meteor Showers are best seen outside of the city and street lights where you can gaze into the darkest part of the sky with unobstructed views. If the skies are clear you should be able to see about 20 meteors per hour. Here are some suggestions for the best places to go in and around Orlando for a view of the Leonid Meteor Shower. Lake Nona, Near Moss Park, Orlando There are many large open land areas (where the trees were cleared) in and around Orlando. However, there's a great spot on John Wycliffe Boulevard -- between the headquarters of Campus Crusade for Christ (which is gated so you won't be able to go on their property unless you know someone who works there), and the headquarters of Wycliffe Bible Translators. Lake Nona is about 15 minutes from the Orlando International Airport and about 30 minutes from downtown Orlando. Turn onto Wycliffe Blvd and you'll be able to park somewhere on that street or parking area. It's best to go to a clear, dark, safe place to park, facing east. Although the lights are on in both buildings - you'll be able to see the skies unobstructed, by looking between both buildings so any street lights are facing away from you. If you know someone who lives on the lake and has a boat even better. There are little to no street lights in and around resident backyards, facing the lake. It might be a little creepy going out on a boat in the middle of the night, but if you can, you'll have a great view of the dark skies. There's no side street parking access to the lake and Moss Park is closed at night. Seminole State College of Florida The Planetarium at Seminole State College of Florida is home to the Central Florida Astronomical Society and less than a half hour from Orlando. The Planetarium will most likely be closed, however the surrounding area could be a prime spot to stargaze. On select evenings, the Planetarium offers the 'Central Florida Nights' presentation which teaches you how to locate constellations. If you have attended their presentations in the past, you'll know that they suggest their attendees, to go outside of the building and observe the skies. Hopefully you'll find a spot with a great view of the Leonid Meteor Shower, near the building. Cocoa, Daytona, New Smyrna Beaches Although these beaches are about an hour outside of Orlando, it's still considered a hot spot for stargazing in Central Florida. As most stargazers will tell you, when you're looking out at the ocean at pre-dawn, you're less likely to have the distractions of surrounding city lights. Make it an evening out, find a good spot with little to no street lights and enjoy the view. Weather forecast Check the weather forecast before you leave home to see the Leonid Meteor Shower. Even if the weather is partly cloudy, there's always a chance that it will clear up somewhere in the midst of the meteor shower. On numerous occasions Orlando drivers are blanketed in blinding rain and all of a sudden it stops - because they drove out from under the rain cloud. Bring chairs, a jacket, and some hot beverages. It would be best if you can sit in the back of a pickup truck and gaze into the full sky. Wild animals tend to come out at night when you least expect them so it's safer to be in your car or on it when stargazing. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Sky Show Wednesday: Leonid Meteor Shower to Peak Predawn - National Geographic Posted: 16 Nov 2010 02:52 PM PST Wednesday night will be the peak of the 2010 Leonid meteor shower—but North American sky-watchers hoping to see the Leonids at their best will have to set early morning alarms Tuesday night. Historically the November Leonids deliver one of the most active of the annual meteor showers. Occasionally the Leonids produce bona fide meteor storms, with rates of a few hundred to thousands of shooting stars an hour during the peak. (Get the scoop on last year's Leonids.) This year's performance is expected to be modest but still a good sky show, with peak rates of up to 20 meteors an hour. The best viewing dates for this year will be Wednesday and Thursday, with the official peak occurring on Wednesday at midday in North America, a time slot that favors observers in Asia. "The meteors will appear to radiate from the constellation Leo, the lion, which rises around midnight in the east," said Raminder Singh Samra, resident astronomer at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre in Vancouver, Canada. "Meteor activity should pick up closer to early morning hours [in North America on Wednesday] as the Earth plows through the comet debris" that creates the meteor shower, Samra said. (See asteroid and comet pictures.) No matter the location, observers will have to contend with the moon, which will be close to full and up for most of the night. That means bright moonlight will wash out many of the fainter meteor trails, Samra said. But the moon will set a couple hours before sunrise, when the most intense part of the shower should start to kick in, he added. Modest Leonids May Still Surprise As with other meteor showers, such as the Perseids in August and the Orionids in October, the Leonids are named for the constellation that appears to be the shower's source. (See Perseids pictures.) In reality, the Leonids, and most other meteor showers, happen when Earth plows through a trail of debris left in the wake of a comet orbiting the sun—in this case, comet Tempel-Tuttle. (Related: "Meteor Dust May Affect the Weather, Study Says.") When a comet gets close to the sun, vaporizing ice releases pieces of dust, most no larger than grains of sand. This debris generally settles into the same orbital path as the comet, although the dusty trail can be shifted slightly by gravitational interactions with larger planets, such as Jupiter. Earth annually crosses through the orbiting debris of some comets, which burns up in our atmosphere and creates meteors. Occasionally a larger object, more like a pebble or even a boulder, will produce a brilliant fireball. (Also see "Exploding Clays Drive Geminids Sky Show?") "When our planet passes through denser clumps of material, we experience higher meteor rates," said Geza Gyuk, an astronomer at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. "This year we will only be hitting a normal section of the debris trail, probably leading to lower numbers." Still, meteor shower forecasts are in their infancy, and predicting exactly how many meteors will light up the sky is relatively hard. (Find out why next December's Draconid meteor shower be a meteor outburst.) "Although we are getting better at predicting the structure of the debris stream, and hence the pattern of activity during the shower, the Leonids can still surprise us—so don't give up if the peak times are cloudy," Gyuk said. "Also keep in mind that the Leonids will produce somewhat elevated rates of meteors the day before the official peak"—as Earth closes in on the densest part of the debris stream—and the day after. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Watching the Leonid Meteor Shower in Pennsylvania - Associated Content Posted: 16 Nov 2010 01:48 PM PST The Leonid Meteor Shower comes around once a year and this year it will peak on November 17 and 18, 2010 when there should be 15-20 meteors an hour. The best time to look for meteors is about an hour before dawn and One of the best places in Pennsylvania to observe astronomical events has to be Cherry Springs State Park. Unfortunately, this is 3 hours from Harrisburg . If you are a diehard astronomy lover, then it may be worth taking the long trip to this amazing location. This is the world's second designated International Dark Sky Park. This means that Cherry Springs has natural lighting instead of being invaded with artificial lighting. For astronomy, this is great because it allows people to see the night sky much clearer. It costs approximately $25 to have a site for one night. This is a great place for observation as they have sites that you can set up in and concrete pads off of the sites to set up a telescope on. To get to this park from Harrisburg, it is a straight shot up 11/15 over to route 44. John Rudy Park is a good location if you are looking for something closer to home. Located in York County , Pennsylvania , this is where the York County Astronomical Society uses the observatory to stargaze. That will be closed but you can still use the park to watch the meteor shower. This park is located just off route 24, just north of Springettsbury Township . This is approximately 40 minutes from Harrisburg . Tom Tudek Memorial Park is where the Central Pennsylvania Observers go to watch the stars. This is a public park located off 322 north just past State College . This park is approximately 1.5 hours away from Harrisburg but it is a straight shot taking 322 west. It would be a nice place to watch the meteors from. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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