>From an occasional newsletter that I send to various contacts - I'll risk
the wrath of the OT watchdogs as it will presumably be of some interest to
many of technical bent.


"Watch the stars, and from them learn.
--Albert Einstein

_________________________________________________


The Leonid Meteor Stream will arrive on November 18th.
It is POSSIBLE that this years display will be the best for the next (and
last) 33 years. This is what they thought last year too but for slightly
different reasons. In the unlikely but possible event that the display is as
good as it was in 1833 it will be a once in a lifetime event.

The best time to view in New Zealand will be from Thursday 17th from 10pm on
until dawn on Friday 18th, low in the sky towards the North to North-East..

For others - the peak time is expected to be UT 0100 - 0400 Nov 18th (=
8pm - 11pm EST)(2pm to 6pm Friday in NZ)   but the  peak can occur up to 12
hours earlier or later than expected and the BEST time is usually from 10pm
on  the 17th regardless of where you are on earth.

Viewing on the following night may also be possible.

If you are interested enough to spend your night hours doing this then you
should first look at the NASA Leonids site -

    http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast11nov99_1.htm

This site tells you exactly where and when to look and why. More details at

http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com/11nov99/meteorcounts.html#observe

If you are really enthusiastic you can become part of NASA's Leonid
observation program.



      Russell McMahon
_____________________________

>From another world             - www.easttimor.com
& another rather worse        - www.sudan.com