International Meteor Organization - Science note on the Leonids 2000

Introduction

From, mainly western, Europe and Africa, as well as from large parts of North America, Central America and parts of South America, people may see a lot of meteors - "shooting stars" - between midnight and dawn of the night of 17 to 18 November, provided skies are clear. These meteors belong to the so-called Leonid shower.

A first peak, visible from western Europe and Africa (including central Europe) and NE South America, is expected around 3:44 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time, which is 4:44 a.m. local time for most of the favoured continental European and African locations, 3:44 a.m. for the British Isles, mainland Portugal, and the Canary Islands, and 1:44 a.m. for eastern Brazil.

A second peak, visible from large parts of North America, Central America, and NW South America, is expected around 7:51 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time, which is 3:51 a.m. Atlantic Standard Time, 2:51 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, 1:51 Central Standard Time, and 0:51 a.m. Mountain Standard Time. This peak falls too early for Pacific Time Zone locations, unfortunately.

At the times mentioned above, an observer at the indicated locations may expect to see 50 to 100 meteors per hour. A veritable meteor storm with several tens of meteors per minute as last year is much less likely this year, but not ruled out. Therefore, vigilance is called for!

The International Meteor Organization, who collects meteor observations worldwide for the purpose of analysis, wishes to point the attention of the public to this spectacular natural phenomenon.

The Leonids

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Last Update: 08 Sep 2005