Tempel-Tuttle meteor shower lights up the sky

Debris from the comet Tempel-Tuttle pummeled the Earth's atmosphere on Tuesday night, creating a visual spectacle for enthused amateur and professional astronomers alike.

The Leonid meteor storm was promoted as one of the best displays of meteors in decades, but in the end it came up short for Oberlin observers.

The meteor shower hit its peak at 3 p.m. EST on Tuesday. The shower could not be observed from Oberlin until nightfall, when most of the fireworks were already past. "It wasn't dark out during its peak activity," said Associate Professor of Physics Dan Stinebring. The best place to view the meteor shower was East Asia, where darkness and peak activity coincided.

Unfortunately for star spectators, the weather was not in agreement with desired observation times. Chair of the Astronomy Club college sophomore Thomas Dogget said, "We tried to observe as a group, but it was clouded over. Ohio skies aren't that great."

Die-hard amateur astronomers braved the cold weather deep into the night and were rewarded handsomely for their efforts. The sky cleared up after 11 p.m. and allowed for an enjoyable night of meteor watching.

College junior Douglas Gerlach, treasurer of the Astronomy Club said, "I saw about two good fireballs and two regular meteors in the span of two minutes."

As good as the Leonid meteor shower was to the casual observer, it cannot compare to the last time Tempel-Tuttle shot past the Earth in 1966. Spectators witnessed tens of thousands of meteors per hour at its peak.

Some astronomers expected a repeat performance of the 1966 spectacular, but Leonid did not meet expectations. "Usually meteor showers that are touted to be really great turn out to be duds," said Gerlach.

Tempel-Tuttle revolves around the sun in a 32.5 year cycle. The Earth passes through the orbit of Tempel-Tuttle every year but comes closest to the Earth at the 33 year mark when it makes its closest pass of the sun.

As the Earth crosses Tempel-Tuttle's orbit, the comet leaves a fresh trail of debris, as pieces of ice and dirt from the comet are vaporized by photons and blown by solar winds. The chunks of debris hit the Earth's atmosphere at high speeds, are slowed down by the Earth's atmosphere and eventually vaporized, creating brilliant streaks of light known as meteors. The meteors from Tempel-Tuttle appear to come from the direction of the constellation Leo; hence the name Leonid meteor storm.

While the meteor shower was a joy to many, it created some turmoil for governments and telecommunications firms. A strong meteor shower could have knocked out satellites and crippled communications. Most satellites were moved out of the path of any comets and survived the shower with no problems.

Leonid proved that the business of meteor watching is a gamble. Numerous factors play into a successful viewing of a meteor shower. Monday night's observations were washed out by cloud cover. Most viewers were scared off by the clouds on Tuesday night, which did eventually clear. "We were on the wrong side of the planet for it. The weather was not conducive to viewing it," said Gerlach.

Another problem is the irregularity of Tempel-Tuttle's orbit. "We don't pass through the orbit's plane the same way every 33 years. It's a moving target," said Stinebring. Tempel-Tuttle crosses the Earth's orbit at a different point every 33 years, resulting in the carnival of meteors in 1966 compared to the lackluster sideshow on Tuesday.

Pie in the sky: The Tempel-Tuttle meteor shower. (courtesy AP)