An Amazing
Night of Falling Stars
"We are
needy, self-absorbed creatures whose fundamental instincts
are for survival and propagation. Any time we can transcend
the tyranny of our genes is precious, and the night sky is
a portal to this transcendence. It's temporary, of course.
Relatively short spans of selflessness seem to be the most
that flesh and blood can manage. But the stars tell us to
'get real,' to give our everyday concerns a cosmic
dimension, for a little while at least. Physically, we are
tiny, infinitesimal motes - but our minds can encompass the
galaxy and imagine the universe beyond."
--
Peter M. Leschak
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From our vantage point in the
San Emigdio Mountains of Southern California the clear cold
skies made for great viewing. Wrapped in our sleeping bags
we watched the November 18, 2001 Leonid meteor shower for
hours until the cold drove us back to the
tent.
We
camped earlier that night at Marian Campground in the Los
Padres National Forest, situated at 6600 feet. It had a
good view of the sky and isolated us from the light
pollution of the Los Angeles Basin. Clouds came into the
central valley that night and blocked some of the glow.
Overall it was a great site.
We
were all alone in the campground when we went to bed at
7PM, but were later joined by two other groups: a family in
a van that arrived late and left at 3AM and two OHV
enthusiasts that tend a fire most of the night. When we
awoke at 130AM (930 UT), the sky was filled with meteors.
Rarely was there a long period where we couldn't see at
least one. Often several were to be seen at the same
instant. It was the best meteor shower that I've ever seen,
several times over.
The
shower was caused by the earth passing through particles
left in space by the passage of Comet Temple-Tuttle as it
went around the sun in 1766. As these particles hit the
earth's upper atmosphere they burn up and are visible
briefly as meteors.
I
took these two photographs with a 28 mm lens and about a
five minute exposure on Fuji 200 ASA slide film. The camera
was facing north (in both photos one can spot the north
star as it is the only one not moving during the exposure)
and the glow on the bottom on the horizon is that of
California's Central Valley a few thousands of feet below
us. I think that I'd use 400 ASA film the next time and my
photos would pick up the many fainter meteors missed by the
slower film.