Skies may turn spectacular this year

• Onizuka center extends Saturday hours for meteor shower

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer

The Leonid meteor shower in 1998 provided this show over the desert landscape of Joshua Tree National Park in California. The bright star at top is Sirius. Associated Press library photo • Nov. 17, 1998

The Leonid meteor shower isn't spectacular every year, and scientists have difficulty predicting when it will be, but this year it has potential. That's partly because the moon will be in a dark phase and will set early in the evenings when the sky show is peaking. Last year, the moon was bright, obscuring the action.

The folks at the Bishop Museum Planetarium figure the best viewing of the Leonid meteor shower, so named because the meteors appear to come from the direction of the constellation Leo, will be this weekend. They recommend that viewing begin shortly before midnight, but expect the major activity to occur between 12:01 and 1 a.m. Saturday. It should be even better between 12:01 and 1 a.m. Sunday.

For optimal sky-gazing, find a dark place with a clear view of the stars. The primary direction shortly after midnight should be from the east, but astronomers suggest watching the overall night sky. Meteors could continue showing up throughout the night.

The Leonid shower is caused when the Earth's path crosses the debris left behind by the comet Tempel Tuttle, which orbits the sun every 33 years. Tempel Tuttle last passed near the sun — an event astronomers call a perihelion — in 1998.

As our planet crosses the meteor's path, friction causes the comet's remnant cloud of rocks and dust to burn up in the atmosphere, creating shooting stars.

However, the show this weekend is not from the 1998 passage. Bishop Museum Planetarium Manager Mike Shanahan said that when Hawai'i has its best viewing, the Earth will be passing through the cloud left behind by Tempel Tuttle's 1767 passage, 234 years ago.

Shanahan said there are multiple clouds of old Tempel Tuttle debris in the Earth's path, "clouds ahead of us and to the side of us." Sky-gazers in the Western Pacific and Asia will get the best viewing from the overlapping clouds left by the comet's 1699 and 1866 passages.

An image of some of the clouds near the Earth now can be viewed at the Web site of the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland, at www.arm.ac.uk/leonid/dust2001.html.

Judging which one will give the best show, Shanahan said, is always "a crapshoot." But astronomers are getting better at it.

Bishop Museum recommends several Web sites for more information about the Leonid shower. Among them: the Armagh Observatory at www.arm.ac.uk/leonid/index.html; a NASA site at leonid.arc.nasa.gov/index.html; and an American Meteor Society site at comets.amsmeteors.org/meteors/calendar.html.

Onizuka center extends Saturday hours for meteor shower

HALE POHAKU, Hawai'i — The Onizuka Visitor Center at Hale Pohaku on Mauna Kea will extend its hours Saturday to accommodate visitors wishing to view the annual Leonid meteor shower.

This weekend will be a nearly perfect time to view the meteor shower because there will be no moonlight to interfere with sky gazing, according to Hugh Grossman of the Mauna Kea Information Station.

Those planning to make the trip to the 9,300-foot level of Hawai'i's highest mountain should dress warmly, as temperatures will be in the mid-30s. Only flashlights with red lenses will be allowed, and alcohol is banned.

For more information, call (808) 961-2180.