Intergalactic Google-fu Fail...

November 16, 2009 4:02 AM

I've searched here, there, and everywhere for information on the optimal time/date for viewing this year's Leonid meteor shower from my little corner of central Japan. Has anyone else out there been able to find something with a world clock style of interface or am I reaching? I checked the IMO, but found their schedule unwieldy....

It's already frigid outside and I'm having a hard time convincing myself to just bundle up and go out there if there's a chance it will be better several hours from now, or worse, tomorrow night. It's nearly 9pm on Monday, November 16th, Tokyo time.

(Not that I'm there. If I were, light pollution would keep me from even bothering to ask. It's much darker here in rural Gifu.)

posted by squasha to science & nature (6 answers total)

The timing: "We predict a sub-storm level outburst on Nov. 17, 2009, peaking sometime between 21:34 and 21:44 UT," Cooke said. That favors observers in Asia, although Cooke won't rule out a nice show over North America when darkness falls hours after the peak. "I hope so," he said. "It's a long way to Mongolia."

Tokyo time is +9 UT so 21:34 UT would be 6:34am local?
posted by woolylambkin at 4:23 AM on November 16, 2009

Nevermind I totally forgot that even though peak hour happens at 21:34 UT doesn't mean that you'll actually be able to see the constellation. Looking at Sky View Cafe it looks like the Leo Constellation rises around 2:30am Tokyo time and gets higher into the sky (better viewing, less light pollution, closer to peak hour) until sunrise which is at 6:18.
posted by woolylambkin at 4:30 AM on November 16, 2009 [1 favorite]

Wrong day, it's tomorrow night. Early morning on the 18th is the peak viewing time in Japan.
Another link.
posted by planetkyoto at 4:57 AM on November 16, 2009

Thank you for this, woolylambkin! Looks like I should try to get a few hours of sleep, now, and go out around 3am. If I can stay off the wonderful Sky View Cafe site, that is!

Glad I opted to stay warm by the computer.
posted by squasha at 5:03 AM on November 16, 2009

Damn, should have previewed. Thank you, both. Will adjust plans accordingly....
posted by squasha at 5:05 AM on November 16, 2009

As posted by nickyskye, The Fluximator allows you to calculate the expected shower rate for a given date and a given location. It also allows you to see the difference between staying downtown or moving out into the countryside to a dark and clear location.
posted by netbros at 6:17 AM on November 16, 2009 [2 favorites]