Hamilton Amateur Astronomers November 2001 Volume 9 Issue 1 Leonid Meteor Shower (Storm?) The following article is based on the November this year's predictions total of 4 comet discov- 2001 NAMN Notes. NAMN for a meteor storm are eries, and 9 co- Notes is a monthly correct it could be the discoveries. The most newsletter produced by "sight of a lifetime". famous of these comets is the North American Meteor 1862 III Swift-Tuttle, Network, and is available Stewart Attlesey the parent of the Perseid both via email, and on meteors. Stewart.Attlesey@cogeco.ca the NAMN website at: www.namnmeteors.org. The Early Leonid Observa- The Leonids tions These meteors are debris If the weather is clear from Comet 55P/Tempel- There are many old de- on the night of November Tuttle that burn up as scriptions of the Leonid 17/18 join your fellow they hit Earth's atmo- meteors, going back over HAA members at our Bin- sphere. The shower con- 1000 years, long before brook Conservation Area sists of particles that their cometary origin was observing site. It will have been shed over many known. One of the first be a lot of fun and if orbits by the comet. The recorded instances of the comet shed some of the shower occurred on Octo- particles, you will see ber 12, 902. We now know, as meteors, hundreds of due to calendar al- years ago. lowances, that this was the Leonids. The Leonids of November, 1833 sparked The Parent Comet the current birth of While living in Mar- meteor astronomy as we seilles, France Ernst know it. This storm was Wilhelm Liebrecht Tempel widely observed in North discovered the comet on America. In 1866, another December 19th, 1865. Tem- meteor storm occurred. pel was born in 1821 in Sir Robert Ball wrote: Nieder-Kunersdorf and "Such was the occurrence discovered a total of 13 which astonished the comets in his lifetime. world on the night be- tween November 13th and Horace Parnell Tuttle of 14th, 1866. The meteors Harvard College Observa- were distinguished not tory, Cambridge, Mas- only by their enormous sachusetts independently multitude, but by their discovered comet Tempel- intrinsic magnificence. Tuttle, on January 6th, 1866. He went on to a (Continued on page 3) inside... Cosmology Group page 2 The Night the Sky Danced page 5 Observer's Handbook page 2 Calendar of Events page 6 Treasurer's Report page 4 Membership Renewal page 7 Page 2 Cosmology Discussion Group EE vent Horizon is a publication of the Hamilton Amateur Astronomers (HAA). W We will be dis- As always, refreshments will The HAA is an amateur astronomy cussing the Fox be provided. Everyone is wel- club dedicated to the promotion and TV's Apollo Moon Hoax enjoyment of astronomy for people of show. For reading material on come. all ages and experience levels the subject call Larry at (905) 529-1037 and you will be sent The meeting is Saturday, The cost of the subscription is November 24th, 2001 at 8pm. included in the $25 individual or $30 the literature. We were unable It will be in room B148 of family membership fee for the year. to obtain the original show on McMaster's Burke Science Event Horizon is published a video. For part of our meeting minimum of 10 times a year. we will discuss topics for our Building. spring meeting. HAA Council Hon. Chair Jim Winger Chair Marg Walton Second Chair Grant Dixon Secretary Stewart Attlesey Observer's Handbook 2002 Observer's Handbook 2002 Treasurer Barbara Wight Obs. Dir Bret Culver Publicity Doug Black Editor Rosa Assalone Membership Dir. Ann Tekatch It is time to order your Ob- HAJA Coord Rosa Assalone server's Handbook once Councillors again. If you want one, be Ray Badgerow sure to get your order in Sheila Overall soon. Cost is $15.00. Email Doug Welch margw@icom.ca, call (905) 627-7361, or sign up at the Web Site http://amateurastronomy.org/ club meetings. Mailing Address PO Box 65578 Dundas, ON L9H 6Y6 Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 3 Leonids... (Continued from page 1) Europe, and Africa, with dicted for the peaks. For I shall never forget that a ZHR of about 3700. us, at the 5:01AM peak, night... It would be the radiant will be about impossible to say how In 2000, rates were not 50 degrees above the hori- many thousands of meteors as high. Three peaks were zon. It will be close to were seen, each one of observed, but with a ZHR new moon for the Leonids which was bright enough of only about 130, 290 so get out to a dark site to have elicited a note and 480. to increase your meteor of admiration on any rates! ordinary night." Predictions for This Year There are a number of More detail can be found Observations Last Cen- models predicting the on the Armagh website at tury. activity of the Leonid h t t p : / / w w w . a r m . a c . u k / In 1933, no storm was meteors this year. It leonid/info2001.html. observed. will only be after the event has occurred that Other models predict that In 1966, however, a brief we will know which model the peak visible to us storm was observed on best fits the activity will occur within ½ hour November 17th over the seen! of the times shown above central and western with a ZHR up to 4,200. United States. A peak According to the Armagh rate of about 40 meteors Observatory website at per second was reached at http://www.arm.ac.uk/leonid/ 5.54 a.m. local time. Where in the Sky Should This works out to 2400 encounters.html the follow- You Look? meteors per minute, or a ing peaks are predicted: ZHR of 144,000! The ZHR, The Leonids (LEO) will or Zenithal Hourly Rate, 1. November 18, have a general radiant at is a measure of the 5.01AM, ZHR RA 10h 12m, Dec +22, which number of meteors that an 2,500?, Visible is about 2 degrees down to observer would see on from N. & Central the right of the star zeta average, per hour, with America (Debris Leonis, the star called the unaided eye. This shed by the comet Adhafera, up in the rate assumes that the in 1767.) 'sickle' of Leo. No matter observer is out under a where in the sky you see dark sky with the radi- 2. November 18, them, if you trace back ant, the area in the sky 12.31PM, ZHR the path of a Leonid where the meteors seem to 9,000, Visible meteor, it will seem to come from, directly over- from Australia & come from this area. head. E. Asia (Debris shed by the comet These are very fast mete- In 1998, a surprise in 1699.) ors, with a velocity of shower of fireballs was about 71 km per second. seen. This unexpected 3. November 18, Get comfortable in your bombardment of fireballs 1.19PM, ZHR lawnchair, and center your happened about 16 hours 15,000, Visible gaze about 50 degrees up before the predicted peak from W. Australia, in the sky. As these of the Leonid shower! It E., SE & Central meteors are very fast, the must be remembered that, Asia (Debris shed fainter ones may be diffi- in spite of all kinds of by the comet in cult to detect for begin- predictions by profes- 1866.) ning observers. If you sional researchers, we concentrate on one direc- still do not know every- You can see from these tion in the sky, instead thing about meteors! times that North America only gets 1 peak at of moving all over, you will have a better chance In 1999, a storm of night. Of course, the of seeing more meteors, Leonid activity was ob- Leonids will be visible served from western Asia, all through the night at (Continued on page 6) lower rates than pre- Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 4 Oct 31 2000 1475 266 136 0 442 0 2319 350 348 13 173 161 442 610 162 77 100 2436 -117 Oct 31 2001 1540 235 0 490 464 368 3097 369 435 0 112 84 468 667 22 80 100 2337 760 (Unaudited) INCOME STATEMENT AS AT OCTOBER 31, 2001 HAMILTON AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS Donations -Membership Fees Donations -Other Raffle Messier Marathon Observers Handbook/Calendar sales Interest Income Total Income Newsletter printing Newsletter postage HAJA Meeting and Observing Expense Promotion Observers H/B/Calendar cost of sales Insurance General Administration Post Office Box rental Donation Expense Total Expenses INCOME EXPENSES SURPLUS/DEFICIT Prepared by Barbara Wight, Treasurer Barbara Wight Treasurer's Report Oct 31 2000 355 3000 0 80 3435 1287 4722 0 230 230 4609 -117 4492 4722 Oct 31 2001 2127 2000 300 77 4504 1287 5791 94 445 539 4492 760 5252 5791 (Unaudited) BALANCE SHEET AS AT OCTOBER 31, 2001 HAMILTON AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS Bank Investments Inventory Prepaid Expense Total Current Assets Fixed Assets -Equipment Total Assets Accounts Payable Deferred Revenue Total Liabilities Opening Balance Current Year Closing Balance Total Liabilities and Equity The financial statements for the year ended October 31, 2001 have been published in this issue of the newsletter. As you will notice, this year resulted in a surplus of $760. The main reason for the surplus is due to the fundraising activity of the Messier Marathon. The balance of the surplus is interest earned on a bond that matured. This also resulted in our investment account decreasing by the bond principal of $1,000, with the funds being deposited into our bank account. The increase in membership dues this year resulted in the revenues covering the expenses, therefore there is no deficit for the first time in a few years. Thank you for your continued support, and any input from the membership is always welcome. ASSETS LIABILITIES EQUITY Prepared by Barbara Wight, Treasurer Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 5 The Night the Sky Danced II Tuesday evening is almost upon us t seems like a long time since as I write this and the auroral oval is we last had a good aurora. But looking much like it did last evening, it was worth the wait! On the so another great display might be in evening of Monday, November 6th, I the works. Check that sky frequently, check the aurora web page of the US since the sun has been very active National Oceanic and Atmospheric recently! Administration - as if they adminis- tered the ocean and atmosphere! - If you are interested in learning about and noticed that the auroral oval had auroras or keeping an eye on auroral greatly intensified and was extended activity, I recommend the following to the south. It looked like a pretty links: good display was headed our way. Tempting fate, I decided to send out NOAA an e-mail to alert HAA folk. Next, I http://www.sec.noaa.gov/pmap/ convinced Bob Botts that we should pmapN.html head out to the country. I antic- ipated that we might get The Auroral Alarm something around mid- http:// night, if we were lucky. angwin.ece.uiuc .edu/~haunma/ We knew we were in aurora/ for a treat when we could see the sky The Aurora filled with aurora Page while we were still on http:// Highway 403 in www.geo.mtu.e Hamilton! A beautiful du/weather/au- corona was overhead rora/ and there were large patches of deep red Geomagnetic Activ- along with the more ity Warning Lists usual green streamers. http://www.ips.gov.au/ I phoned everyone whose num- mailman/listinfo bers I could remember and told them (I subscribe to ips-mag-alert, but others to get outside NOW!! like ips-aurora-alert are probably good, too!) The aurora was still hanging in there at midnight, although the relatively These links and others can be found fully illuminated moon took some of on the page the contrast out of it. Still, it was in my http://dogwood.physics.mcmaster.ca/ top 5 displays of all time and it was DLW/Magnetometry.html the first time that I was able to alert my kids in time for them to see it, so Doug Welch it was certainly one of the most mem- orable. Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 6 Leonids... (Continued from page 3) - A snack HAA Website especially the fainter - A thermos of tea, ones. A dark sky is coffee or hot chocolate important! You have probably no- To see what the fainter ticed by now that An- Leonids look like near thony Tekatch has done A Leonid Checklist the radiant, or to look an amazing job on the What do you need to at Leonid meteor trains: observe the Leonids? The - A pair of binoculars HAA website. following is a basic (www.science.mcmast checklist for those plan- No telescope required! er.ca/HAA) ning to observe this meteor shower: What else can I do? If you have anything you would like added to Warmth and comfort gear: If you are ambitious you the website, such as - A reclining lawnchair might want to record your so you can lie back in observations. Check out photos, etc., send An- comfort the NAMN Observing Guide thony an e-mail at - A foam mat to put on at www.namnmeteors.org/ anthony@unihedron.com your lawnchair to insu- guide.html late your back - A heavy sleeping bag For information on meteor - Extra blankets photography, check out - A tarp to put over your http://www.imo.net/ sleeping bag to keep frost or dew off photo/index.html - Long underwear and layers of warm clothing For information on video - A warm coat recording, check out - Warm socks http://www.imo.net/ - Warm mittens or gloves, video/index.html. and extra mittens - Warm hat - A scarf to wrap around your neck and face CALENDAR OF EVENTS * November 10, 16, 17 BINBROOK OBSERVING NIGHTS - For confirmation or directions call December 7, 8, 14, 15 Ann Tekatch 575-5433, Marg Walton 627-7361, Rob Roy 692-3245 * November 18, predawn LEONID SHOWERS -A burst lasting perhaps two hours is expected. The maximum rates should occur at 5:00 a.m. EST * Friday, December 14, 7:30pm HAA GENERAL MEETING - Marcel VanDalfsen will speak about "The Globular Cluster System of the Sombrero Galaxy - M104" * Friday, January 11, 7:30pm HAA GENERAL MEETING - The meeting will be at the Spectator Building auditorium. Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Page 7 Hamilton Amateur Astronomers Membership Renewal November 1, 2001 - October 31, 2002 Name: ______________________________________________________________________ Address: _____________________________________________________________________ Province: __________________________ Postal code: _____________________________ Phone number: (____)__________________ E-mail: ________________________________ Type of membership: Individual $25.00/year _____ Family $30.00/year _____ Royal $50.00/year* _____ Friend $100.00/year* _____ Patron $250.00/year* _____ Voluntary Donation: $_____________ *These levels of membership confer the same rights and privileges as a Family membership. We greatly appreciate the additional financial support our members provide by signing up as a Royal, Friend or Patron member. All membership dues are eligible for tax receipts. Total: $_____________ Please make your cheque payable to: Hamilton Amateur Astronomers P.O. Box 65578 Dundas, Ontario L9H 6Y6 Membership renewals are due November 1, 2001 Event Horizon - Hamilton Amateur Astronomers