| |
KF5JRV > TODAY 12.11.21 11:37z 10 Lines 1052 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 25454_KF5JRV
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Nov 12
Path: HB9ON<IW2OHX<IW0QNL<VE2PKT<W0ARP<KF5JRV
Sent: 211112/1131Z 25454@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.19
Andrew Ellicott, an early American astronomer, witnesses the Leonids meteor shower from a ship off the Florida Keys in 1799. Ellicott wrote in his journal that the “whole heaven appeared as if illuminated with sky rockets, flying in an infinity of directions, and I was in constant expectation of some of them falling on the vessel. They continued until put out by the light of the sun after day break.ö Ellicott’s journal entry is the first known record of a meteor shower in North America.
The Leonids meteor shower is an annual event that is greatly enhanced every 33 years or so by the appearance of the comet Tempel-Tuttle. When the comet returns, the Leonids can produce rates of up to several thousand meteors per hour that can light up the sky on a clear night. Ellicott witnessed one such manifestation of the Leonids shower, and the subsequent return of the comet Tempel-Tuttle in 1833 is credited as inspiring the first organized study of meteor astronomy.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
Email KF5JRV@gmail.com
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
