PLEASE NOTE:
*
CCNet, 22 November 1999
-----------------------
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"One night I was roused from my
sleep by a rap at the door
and I heard the Deacon's voice
exclaiming 'Arise, Abraham,
the day of judgment has come!' I sprang
from my bed and
rushed to the window and saw the stars
falling in great
showers! But looking back of them in the
heavens I saw all
the grand old constellations with which
I was so well
acquainted, fixed and true in their
places. Gentlemen, the
world did not come to an end then, nor
will the Union now."
-- Abraham Lincoln’s recollection
of the 1833 Leonid Meteor Storm
(1) ASTRONOMERS REPORT ON STRANGE DOUBLE ASTEROID
Space.com, 18 November 1999
(2) AIR FORCE SPACE COMMAND SOUND THE ALL-CLEAR
Andrew Yee <ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca>
(3) POSSIBLE LUNAR IMPACT: MORE RECORDS SOUGHT
David Dunham <dunham@erols.com>
(4) CALL FOR LEONID OBSERVATIONS & UPDATED SHOWER CIRCULAR
Marc Gyssens <gyssens@charlie.luc.ac.be>
(5) FINAL AMS LEONIDS REPORT
Jim Richardson <richardson@digitalexp.com>
wrote:
(6) NASA METEOR BALLOON UPDATE
NASA Science News <expressnews@sslab.msfc.nasa.gov>
(7) LEONIDS JILTS EAGER OBSERVERS
Andrew Yee <ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca>
(8) ABRAHAM LINCOLN & THE 1833 LEONID METEOR STORM
Houston Chronicle, 19 November 1999
(9) FOR NOAH'S FLOOD, A NEW WAVE OF EVIDENCE
The Washington Post, 18 November 1999
===================
(1) ASTRONOMERS REPORT ON STRANGE DOUBLE ASTEROID
From Space.com, 18 November 1999
http://www.space.com/science/astronomy/double_asteroid_991118.html
By Robin Lloyd
space.com
A team of European astronomers claims to have taken an unusual
direct
photograph of an object that may be a member of a class of
strange
space objects -- asteroid pairs that closely orbit one another.
Asteroid (216) Kleopatra, first discovered in 1880, previously
was
thought to be a solo dumbbell-shaped object, but it now appears
in
infrared images taken using the European Southern Observatory's
3.6-meter telescope at La Silla Observatory in Chile to be a pair
of
bright objects closely circling one another, separated by a thin
space
of unknown size.
Franck Marchis, Daniel Hestroffer and their colleagues used
adapted
optics on the telescope on Oct. 25 to look directly at Kleopatra,
a
Main Belt body with an elongated orbit that passes between Mars
and
Jupiter. They say the session showed that Kleopatra is comprised
of two
similarly sized lobes, neither of which is small enough to be
called a
moon.
If the finding, reported in a recent issue of the International
Astronomical Union's Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams,
is
confirmed, the Kleopatra pair might not be the first of its kind
--
depending upon the separation between the "twins."
In 1989, Jet Propulsion Laboratory asteroid tracker Eleanor Helin
discovered a similar binary system called 4769 Castalia, in which
the two pieces are stuck together by gravity as if kissing. That
asteroid or pair is much smaller in diameter (about a mile
across) and
has been studied extensively with radar.
Still, the Kleopatra pair could be part of a small class of
binary
bodies first thought to be singular and later discovered to be
more
complex. Other cases include asteroids with moons -- asteroid 243
Ida
and its moon Dactyl, and asteroid 45 Eugenia, whose moon was
reported
in October to be photographed by an Earth-based telescope for the
first
time.
"We're quite confident that we have two lobes," said
Hestroffer, an
astronomer at the Paris Observatory's Institute for Celestial
Mechanics. "As for separation, we're quite confident that
it's 0.125
arcseconds." That would put the center-to-center distance
between the two objects at 62 miles (100 kilometers).
The Kleopatra pair, currently near the point in its orbit that
comes
closest to the sun, includes two low-density objects with a
5.4-hour
rotation period.
The astronomers are uncertain of the diameter of the two objects
and
are waiting for more data, including observations made with
radar,
Hestroffer said.
The existence of asteroid binaries raises questions about the
evolution
of the solar system relics. Some are thought to have been knocked
from
other larger bodies, others might be congealed piles of space
rubble
left over from the initial formation of the solar system 4.6
billion
years ago.
"Now there is also a lot of work to see how long can such a
system be
stable, how can it be formed," Hestroffer said. The
Kleopatra pair is
too dense to be a rubble pile, he said.
Brian Marsden, who puts out the Central Bureau for Astronomical
Telegrams and is director of the Minor Planet Center in
Cambridge,
Mass., said the European group's report was credible enough to
publish
in the circular but ideally should be confirmed. He questioned
the idea
that the objects are separated by any space at all, in which case
they
might be classified as a "contact binary" like Castalia
rather than a
"near-contact binary," as Hestroffer suggested.
Other astronomers have reported Kleopatra as a double object in
the
past, but those findings never were confirmed and relied on a
different
observational technique, Marsden said.
For instance, the Hubble Space Telescope photographed Kleopatra
but
failed to "confirm or rule out the binary nature" of
the object,
Hestroffer said.
The whole area of binary asteroids is "very touchy,"
Marsden said,
because some of the earliest reports failed to pan out in the
long run.
When Galileo directly imaged Dactyl orbiting Ida six years ago,
the
concept of asteroid binaries gained some credibility, he said.
"There seemed to be no doubt about it from Galileo," he
said. Still
Marsden wasn't sure that the concept was "100 percent
proven," he said.
"Maybe a good 80 percent."
Copyright 1999, Space.com
================
(2) AIR FORCE SPACE COMMAND SOUND THE ALL-CLEAR
From Andrew Yee <ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca>
Air Force Space Command News Service
50th Space Wing Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 19, 1999
Leonids meteor storm
SCHRIEVER AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- Initial indications show that
the
Leonids storm did not adversely affect Air Force Space Command
satellite constellations. AFSPC officials are continuing to
assess each
satellite for any residual damage.
As a matter of policy AFSPC does not comment on the status of
individual satellites. Command officials said it may be several
weeks
before an anomaly caused by a Leonids impact may emerge.
Just as the Global Positioning System satellites still provide
accurate, instantaneous and reliable information to civilian
users
throughout the world, AFSPC military satellites continue to
provide
unequalled support to the men and women in America's uniform.
=================
(3) POSSIBLE LUNAR IMPACT: MORE RECORDS SOUGHT
From David Dunham <dunham@erols.com>
Subject: Lunar impact seen & videorecorded; more records
sought
Brian Cudnik, Houston, Texas, saw a brief flash near the center
of the
Moon's dark side near the edge at about 4h 46m 20s U.T. November
18.
Observing with a 36cm telescope, he estimated that the flash,
taking a
fraction of a second, was at least as bright as nearby 4th-mag.
psi1
Aqr. He is sure of the event, but asked me for confirmation, to
see if
a satellite glint or other close-to-Earth phenomenon might have
been
involved. The observation was confirmed in a video recording that
I
made using a 13cm telescope at George Varros' home in Mount Airy,
Maryland, with relatively dark skies about 35 miles northwest of
Washington, DC. The event occurred at a cusp angle of around 75 -
80N
(10 to 15 deg. north of the lunar equator) 1.7' from the Moon's
edge.
The flash, timed from the videotape at 4h 46m 15s, is visible in
only
two video frames, the first at about 3rd magnitude and the second
at
about 8th magnitude.
The images can be viewed at http://iota.jhuapl.edu.
The object was
probably a Leonid since the peak of this year's display was at 2h
UT as
seen from the Earth. The trailing Moon would arrive at the same
solar
longitude about 3h later, near the time of the observed impact. I
also
recorded 5 lunar occultations of 8th-magnitude stars an hour
before the
impact, and also have an image of psi1 Aqr on the tape. Analysis
of
those images and of the impact images will permit a reasonably
good
determination of the brightness and location of the impact flash.
Anyone else who was recording the dark side of the Moon at the
above
time should check their data and report their results to me,
preferably
at both dunham@erols.com
and david.dunham@jhuapl.edu.
I am interested
in knowing about ALL observations of the lunar dark side made
between
4:00 and 6:00 UT November 18th when the Moon should have been
struck by
the brunt of the Leonid storm. There are other fainter
flashes in my
video record, but some of them are spurious video artifacts. I
looked
at one, and it did not have the strong stellar appearance of the
4:46:15 flash. But before checking very much for other
events, I want
to know if there are any other observations that might confirm
them.
Unfortunately, I'm affraid that most observers in the central and
western USA, where the Moon was best placed at the time, bypassed
the
evening lunar observations in favor of seeing the Leonid meteors
during
the early morning hours; I have heard of only a few lunar
attempts. At
my location, fortunately conditions were excellant with the Moon
15
deg. above the horizon at 4:46 UT. I was able to continue the
observations until 5:30 UT.
I believe this is the first confirmed lunar impact
observation. A
probable lunar meteor impact was photographed on 1953 November 15
by Dr. Leon Stuart; see
http://www.spirit.net.au/~minnah/LunarFlare.html.
David Dunham, IOTA, 1999 Nov 21
Joan and David Dunham
7006 Megan Lane
Greenbelt, MD 20770
(301) 474-4722
dunham@erols.com
=================
(4) CALL FOR LEONID OBSERVATIONS & UPDATED SHOWER CIRCULAR
From Marc Gyssens <gyssens@charlie.luc.ac.be>
We found it necessary to produce one more update of the IMO
Leonid
Shower Circular. Reading it gives you a taste of what a proper
global
data analysis may yield in terms of confirming features of
existing
models and revealing new features which will allow meteor
astronomers
to refine these models for the upcoming storm years!
Making such a global analysis will be the next endeavor of the
IMO, as
the rough techniques used for rapid information dissemination
have now
been stretched to their limits. A preliminary such analysis is
planned
to go in the December issue of WGN and should therefore be
completed
in less than 2 (!) weeks!
Therefore it is important the IMO Visual Commission receives the
full
reports of observers as soon as possible! Send your observations
to
Rainer Arlt at visual@imo.net
or in any other way you are accustomed
to. When preparing your reports, mind the following two issues:
1) Report in narrow time intervals! It is in particular
recommended -
to the extent possible - to report 1-minute
intervals (or shorter!)
for the full hour between 1h30m and 2h30m UT. There
are reasons to
suspect minor peaks in this interval besides the two
reported on in
the Circular. These minor peaks will be smoothed out
if you report
in wider intervals - with 5-minute intervals, they
disappear! Only
if you report in narrower intervals will we be able
to see which of
these minor peaks are real and which are merely
statistical
fluctuations. Also for the remainder of the
activity, report in
narrow intervals, the length of which must be chosen
depending on
the number of meteors seen! Ideally, none of these
interval should
contain more than 10 meteors!
2) It goes without saying that magnitude distributions - which
were
not required in the "express reports" -
must be included! Without
these magnitude distributions, it is not possible to
compute the
population index - a measure for the ratio between
fainter and
brighter meteors - and its variation throughout the
Leonid
activity. This information is vital to compute a
correct ZHR
profile!
3) Mention the center of your field of view! Also notice that the
cloud/obstruction correction factor refers to the
field of view
ONLY! Clouds outside the field of view must NOT be
accounted for!
Many of the above recommendations can also be found in Rainer
Arlt's
article "Hints for Visual 1999 Leonid Observations"
which was sent
out via the IMO News and MeteorObs mailing lists and which is
printed
in the October issue of WGN.
We already thank those observers who have not awaited this
message to
send in their complete data; the others we thank in advance for
their
prompt cooperation!
Kind regards,
Rainer Arlt
Marc Gyssens
UPDATED SHOWER CIRCULAR
=======================
We added some data at the beginning and the end of last
circular's
activity profile. It is interesting to see that the 1h53m UT
secondary
peak may correspond to the 1-revolution old dust trail (although
Asher
and McNaught did not expect activity from this trail, they quote
exactly this time as nodal crossing time for the 1-revolution old
trail). Also, there is evidence for enhanced activity on November
18
between 15h and 20h UT (in the order of magnitude of 100+), which
in
turn corresponds to a prediction by Emel'yanenko based on an
older
dust trail. These two features only give a taste of what is still
to
come once a global analysis is underway!
-------------------------------------
I M O S h o w e r C i r c u l a r
-------------------------------------
LEONID Activity 1999
====================
*** 2nd UPDATE ***
====================
ZHRs pertaining to the pre- and post-peak activity of the Leonids
have
been added. Additional comparisons with other observational
reports
have been made. Some cautious interpretations are suggested.
Visual observations of the 1999 Leonids revealed a distinctive
peak
with a ZHR above 5000 on November 18, 2h04m +/-5m UT (solar
longitude
235.286 +/- 0.004, eq. 2000.0).
It seems that the peak time of 2h08m UT predicted by
Asher/McNaught is
confirmed within a margin of at most a few minutes, although the
observed activity is significantly higher. It is reasonable to
conclude that the peak activity has been caused by the
3-revolutions
old dust trail of 55P/Tempel-Tuttle.
All observers who were able to view the peak under good sky
conditions
reported an abundance of faint meteors and a relative absence of
fireballs. If this impression is real, taking it into account may
result in ZHR values somewhat higher than those quoted below.
Ten minutes before the abovementioned peak time, at 1h53m +/- 5m
UT
(solar longitude 235.278 +/- 0.004, eq. 2000.0), the ZHR profile
shows
a secondary peak with of ZHR of about 3500. This secondary peak
does
not only occur in the combined ZHR profile below, but also in the
ZHR
profile of several individual observers, and is therefore
probably
real.
Asher and McNaught mentioned 1h53m UT as the nodal crossing time
for
the 1-revolution old trail, but did not expect activity from it.
ZHR levels were above 1000 from roughly 1h20m UT to 2h45m UT
(solar
longitude 235.26-235.31, eq. 2000).
Apart from the secondary peak mentioned above, the ZHR profile
around
the peak time looks remarkably smooth, even at the level of
5-minute
intervals. However, observers in the French Provence report that,
at
the level of 1-minute intervals, additional minor peaks are
visible
between 1h30m UT and 2h30m UT. Whether these are significant will
be
one of the issues in a forthcoming detailed first global
analysis.
Some observers noticed a drop in the population index (i.e., a
larger
fraction of brighter meteors) after the peak.
Reports from Mohammad Odeh (Jordanian Astronomical Society),
Casper ter Kuile (Dutch Meteor Society, observing near
Valencia, Spain), Mark Kidger (Canary Islands), and Ilan Manulis
and
Alex Mikishev (Israel) are very consistent with the picture
sketched
above.
In addition, radio data from K. Maegawa (Toyokawa Meteor
Observatory,
Aichi, Japan) reported by Kazuhiro Suzuki and the backscatter
radar data from Ondrejov Observatory (Czech Republic) reported by
Petr Pridal and Rosta Stork yield a peak time between 2h00m UT
and 2h10m UT.
When the Americans took over from the Europeans on November 18
UT,
activity stayed stable with a ZHR of 56 +/- 2 between 0500 UT and
1400 UT (solar longitude 235.409-235.787, eq. 2000.0). The
ZHR during
the interval between 1400 UT and 1500 UT, however, doubles in the
observations of Hawaiian-based Jim Bedient. Kun Zhou reports ZHRs
above 100 for the interval between 1625 UT and 1936 UT (solar
longitude 235.889-236.023, eq. 2000.0).
Masaaki Takanashi of the Nippon Meteor Society reports ZHRs above
100
between 1500 UT and 2000 UT (solar longitude 235.829-236..040);
in the
first half of this period even up to around 300. Rates drop
sharply
towards the end of the Japanese observing window.
ZHRs during the West-European observing window of November 18/19
were
consistently around 25. This is consistent with very low activity
registered by the Ondrejov radar that night, as reported by
Pridal and
Stork.
Although the available data are not yet conclusive, it seems that
there are consistent indications for enhanced activity with ZHRs
around or above 100 between November 18, 1500 UT and 2000 UT
(solar
longitude 235.829-236.040, eq. 2000.0).
It is interesting to note that Emel'yanenko predicted a small
secondary
peak on November 18.7 UT due to an older duster trail.
Emel'yanenko also expects significant Leonid activity on November
19.7-19.8 UT (solar longitude 236.960, eq. 2000.0). Whether or
not
this activity materializes, and whether any other peaks in the
observed activity profile exist, can only be revealed by a
detailed
global analysis of data, which is forthcoming.
The following observers (with their observing sites, not their
nationality or country of residence) have contributed data
immediately
after the event, from which the ZHR profile given below
has been derived:
Rainer Arlt (Spain), Jim Bedient (Hawaii), Felix Betonvil (Canary
Islands), C.L. Chan (China), Mark Davis (USA), Asdai Diaz (Cuba),
Yuwei Fan (China), Fei Gao (China), Lew Gramer (USA), Rafael Haag
(Brazil), Wayne T. Hally (USA), Dave Hostetter (USA), Andre
Knoefel
(Spain), Detlef Koschny (Spain), Wen Kou (China), Alastair
McBeath
(UK), Alfredo Pereira (Portugal), Josep Ma. Trigo-Rodriguez
(Spain),
Helena Valero-Rodriguez (Spain), James Smith (Canada), Renke Song
(China), Wanfang Song (China), Jan Verbert (France), Catarina
Vitorino
(Portugal), Jean-Marc Wislez (France), Mariusz Wisniewski
(Poland),
Dan Xia (China), Kim S. Youmans (USA), Dongyan Zha (China),
Jinghui
Zhang (China), Yan Zhang (China), Kun Zhou (China), Jin Zhu
(China).
(For groups of observers, only the name of the contributing
observers have been mentioned.)
Date Period (UT) Time (UT) Sol.
Long. ZHR +/-
-----------------------------------------------------------
Nov 17 0057-0545
0339
234.344
14 2
Nov 17 0600-1000
0800
234.527
16 2
Nov 17 1600-2010
1805
234.951
30 5
Nov 17 1900-2200
2030
235.052 53
14
Nov 17 2300-2400
2330
235.178
82 6
Nov 18 0000-0050
0026
235.217 210 60
Nov 18 0030-0100
0048
235.233 370 80
Nov 18 0050-0130
0110
235.248 560 90
Nov 18 0115-0145
0132
235.263 1160 180
Nov 18 0139-0155
0148
235.275 2360 600
Nov 18 0145-0200
0153
235.278 3430 750
Nov 18 0154-0205
0158
235.282 2820 550
Nov 18 0159-0209
0204
235.286 5400 880
Nov 18 0200-0215
0209
235.289 3540 580
Nov 18 0212-0233
0222
235.298 2110 580
Nov 18 0223-0247
0238
235.310 1140 280
Nov 18 0244-0320
0257
235.323 690 150
Nov 18 0315-0400
0340
235.353 240 60
Nov 18 0347-0505
0423
235.383 153 59
Nov 18 0500-0630
0537
235.435 57
11
Nov 18 0609-0800
0656
235.490 62
11
Nov 18 0711-0900
0756
235.532
51 9
Nov 18 0812-0925
0847
235.568
57 4
Nov 18 0901-1100
0958
235.618
59 9
Nov 18 1100-1400
1254
235.741
56 4
Nov 18 1400-1500
1430
235.808 90
12
Nov 18 1625-1936
1825
235.973 106 13
Nov 19 0018-0445
0306
236.338
23 2
---
Marc Gyssens, 1999 November 20, 18h UT
wgn@imo.net
==================
(5) FINAL AMS LEONIDS REPORT
From Jim Richardson <richardson@digitalexp.com>
Hello All,
The final Internet version of my narrative report on the 1999
Leonids
is now up at:
http://www.amsmeteors.org/leo99update.html
While revisions and updates to this report will be continued
for
inclusion in the next issue of Meteor Trails, this is my last
planned revision for the AMS Website (I have school work to catch
up on!). Below is an excerpt from the report conclusion that I
wish to share:
We would like to heartily thank the dozens of observers worldwide
who either sent in their observing reports directly to the
AMS or
NAMN, or who made their observations available through one of the
many astronomy Internet mailing lists. The speed with which all
of
the various meteor organizations were able to get out current
information on the Leonids this year was unprecedented in the
history of this field. While promoting and conducting good
scientific data collection and data analysis in the area of
meteor
astronomy remains the primary mission of the AMS, it has been a
very enjoyable experience to collect and organize the anecdotal
accounts contained on this page. Along with their great
scientific
value, rare meteor shower outbursts have a historical value as
well, and the personal accounts of what happened with real people
on the night of such an outburst will be long remembered, along
with the advances made in meteor science.
--------
I would also like to especially thank Mark Gyssens and the IMO
team
members that stayed home and performed an outstanding job while
allowing others to chase after the shower. Your news
releases and
extremely fast analysis were most appreciated.
Best regards,
Jim
James Richardson
Department of Physics
Florida State University (FSU)
Operations Manager
American Meteor Society (AMS)
http://www.amsmeteors.org
=================
(6) NASA METEOR BALLOON UPDATE
From NASA Science News <expressnews@sslab.msfc.nasa.gov>
NASA Space Science News for November 21, 1999
Meteor Balloon Update: Replays from the 1999 NASA meteor
balloon
flight are now available at LeonidsLive.com. The peak of the
Leonid
meteor storm did not take place over the eastern US where the
balloon
was launched. Nevertheless, some interesting sights and sounds
were
recorded. Also featured on the LeonidsLive.com website is a
spectacular
picture of a Leonid fireball exploding over the Italian
Alps on
November 18, 1999.
http://www.LeonidsLive.com
==================
(7) LEONIDS JILTS EAGER OBSERVERS
From Andrew Yee <ayee@nova.astro.utoronto.ca>
[http://www.abqjournal.com/scitech/1scitech11-19-99.htm]
Friday, November 19, 1999
Leonid Jilts Eager Observers
By John Fleck, Albuquerque Journal Staff Writer
STARFIRE OPTICAL RANGE -- Nature, scientists have learned over
the
centuries, can be a stingy master.
It demands skill and patience, then doles out its rewards in
large
measure based on luck.
That was Air Force astronomer Jack Drummond's dilemma as he
waited on a
rooftop in the darkness Thursday morning for the meteor shower
that
never came..
With all the technological horsepower of one of the most advanced
astronomical observatories in the world, with a suite of
specialized
instruments assembled from around the country for this occasion,
Drummond waited.
Near the southern edge of Kirtland Air Force Base, the Starfire
Optical
Range is one of the Air Force's premier observatories. It is
dedicated
primarily to refining the technologies needed to take pictures of
orbiting satellites, but in the process it has developed some of
the
most advanced systems for taking sharp, clear images of
astronomical
objects in the night sky.
This week, scientists gathered there to train their tools in the
Leonid
meteor shower.
Inside the warmth of the observatory's two control rooms, teams
of
technicians and scientists scanned their computer monitors and
waited
for what was, for all practical purposes, a once-in-a-lifetime
shot.
The Leonid meteor shower is an annual affair, but once every 32
or 33
years it puts on a dramatic show, as Earth slices through a fresh
trail
of dust laid down by the comet Tempel-Tuttle.
As the rain of little dust grains slash through the very upper
layers
of Earth's atmosphere, they give scientists a unique opportunity
to
understand both the matter coming in from space and the layer of
air
it's hitting.
"It's a pretty specialized event," said University of
Arizona scientist
Lyle Broadfoot, who bolted his instruments to a Starfire
telescope for
this year's shower.
But the storm's peak came at the wrong time for Drummond and his
colleagues. In Europe, around 7 p.m. New Mexico time, observers
counted
some 2,000 meteors an hour. Drummond and his colleagues saw just
a
handful, spending the evening milling about in frustration as
their
instruments sat idle and a bank of clouds slowly enclosed the sky
from
the west.
Drummond, who said he's always wanted to see a true meteor storm,
was
philosophical. The next big Leonid extravaganza isn't expected
for
another 33 years.
"I'll be 87," he said as he sat on the cold in the
roof, "so I'll have
a chance. Medicine is making us live longer."
Copyright © 1999 Albuquerque Journal
==================
(8) ABRAHAM LINCOLN & THE 1833 LEONID METEOR STORM
From Houston Chronicle, 19 November 1999
http://www.chron.com/content/interactive/space/astronomy/news/1999/solarsys/991121.html
Brilliant Leonid storm likely fodder for later Lincoln speech
By JIM VERTUNO
Associated Press
SAN MARCOS -- The Great Emancipator was no Chicken Little.
Southwest Texas State University astronomer Don Olson believes he
has
proof that Abraham Lincoln saw the brilliant Leonid meteor storm
of 1833 when Lincoln was a young man living in New Salem, Ill.
The future 16th president likely was one of the few people around
who
didn't think the sky was falling, Olson said.
Olson uses astronomical calculations and historical research to
determine what the skies looked like during key moments in
history
and what famous people of the past saw when they gazed
heavenward.
The annual Leonid meteor shower, which is particularly intense
every 33 years or so, reached its peak brightness last week.
The meteor shower is made up of a hail of dusty, icy rubble
thrown
off by the Tempel-Tuttle comet as it races around the sun. When
the Earth's orbit carries it into the path of these cosmic
pellets, they burn up in the atmosphere in a display of
shooting stars.
The 1833 meteor shower was one of the most brilliant light shows
ever witnessed from Earth, Olson said. Many people probably
thought it was the end of the world.
Olson traced Lincoln to the 1833 storm after reading a passage by
Walt Whitman, which recounted a story Lincoln told during the
Civil War.
Lincoln told the story to a group of bankers who worried about
the
stability of the Union. According to Olson, Lincoln, then 24, was
boarding with a Presbyterian deacon in New Salem at the time of
the meteor shower.
"One night I was roused from my sleep by a rap at the door
and I
heard the Deacon's voice exclaiming `Arise, Abraham, the day of
judgment has come!' I sprang from my bed and rushed to the window
and saw the stars falling in great showers!" Lincoln
recalled.
"But looking back of them in the heavens I saw all the grand
old
constellations with which I was so well acquainted, fixed and
true
in their places. Gentlemen, the world did not come to an end
then,
nor will the Union now."
That's vintage Lincoln, said Gene Griessman, who has written and
starred in a one-man play about the former president, An Evening
with Abraham Lincoln.
"Lincoln was fascinated by astronomy and fascinated by
science,"
Griessman said. "Lincoln was a cool, unflappable person who
wanted
to find out why things really happened," he said. "He
was probably
the only person in New Salem who didn't think God's Judgment Day
had arrived."
Copyright 1999, AP
==================
(9) FOR NOAH'S FLOOD, A NEW WAVE OF EVIDENCE
From The Washington Post, 18 November 1999
http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/18/278l-111899-idx.html
By Guy Gugliotta
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 18, 1999; Page A01
Scientists have discovered an ancient coastline 550 feet below
the
surface of the Black Sea, providing dramatic new evidence of a
sudden,
catastrophic flood around 7,500 years ago--the possible source of
the Old
Testament story of Noah.
A team of deep-sea explorers this summer captured the first sonar
images of a gentle berm and a sandbar submerged undisturbed for
thousands of years on the sea floor. Now, using radiocarbon
dating
techniques, analysts have shown that the remains of freshwater
mollusks
subsequently dredged from the ancient beach date back 7,500 years
and
saltwater species begin showing up 6,900 years ago.
Explorer Robert D. Ballard, who led the team that collected the
shells,
said the findings indicate a flood occurred sometime during the
600-year gap. "What we wanted to do is prove to ourselves
that it was
the biblical flood," Ballard said in an interview this week.
The findings offer independent verification of a theory advanced
by
Columbia University geologists William Ryan and Walter Pitman
that the
Black Sea was created when melting glaciers raised the sea level
until
the sea breached a natural dam at what is now the Bosporus, the
strait
that separates the Mediterranean Sea from the Black Sea.
An apocalyptic deluge followed, inundating the freshwater lake
below
the dam, submerging thousands of square miles of dry land,
flipping the
ecosystem from fresh water to salt practically overnight, and
probably
killing thousands of people and billions of land and sea
creatures,
according to Ryan and Pitman.
The two scientists described the catastrophe in their book
"Noah's
Flood," based on 30 years of research that began with coring
samples
showing the same abrupt transition from lake to sea that Ballard
confirmed with his dredge. No one had ever actually seen the old
shoreline, however, until Ballard's team captured sonar images of
it in
August.
Ryan and Pitman also suggested that the flood may have triggered
massive migrations to destinations as diverse as Egypt, western
Europe
and central Asia, an idea that has provoked some academic
controversy.
Scholars also question whether any natural disaster could be
conclusively identified as the inspiration for the story of
Noah's
flood.
"All modern critical Bible scholars regard the tale of Noah
as
legendary," said Hershel Shanks, editor of the Biblical
Archaeology
Review. "There are other flood stories, but if you want to
say the
Black Sea flood is Noah's flood, who's to say no?"
Shanks pointed out that biblical scholars date the writing of the
Book
of Genesis, from which the story of Noah is taken, at sometime
between
2,900 and 2,400 years ago, and a similar event is described in
the
Mesopotamian Gilgamesh legend, written about 3,600 years ago.
But while Ryan and Pitman do not prove that the Black Sea flood
directly inspired Gilgamesh or Noah, their theory argues
persuasively
that the event was probably horrific enough for scribes and
minstrels
to remember it for thousands of years.
And regardless of the historical context, the science of the
Black Sea
flood stands undisputed. Ryan and Pitman dated the event at 7,600
years
ago, and they fixed the likely depth of the ancient coastline
almost
exactly where Ballard found it.
"It feels good," Pitman said of Ballard's findings,
analyzed by the
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. Pitman
noted
that the new research took place on the Black Sea's southern
shore near
the Turkish port of Synope--far from the northern waters where he
and
Ryan had worked.
The flood, the underwater coastline and the likelihood that
ancient
settlements lie on the submerged plain have added a new dimension
to an
already ambitious project.
The region's main archaeological attraction has always been the
Black
Sea itself, composed mostly of dense Mediterranean salt water
that
immediately plunged to the bottom of the freshwater lake when the
Bosporus gave way 7,500 years ago.
Ever since, the less dense water on top has acted as a
500-foot-deep
lid on a 7,000-foot-deep oxygen-free abyss--a watery wilderness
where
scientists suspect there may be 7,500 years of shipwrecks
preserved in
almost pristine condition.
The tantalizing prospect of exploring this environment piqued
Ballard's
interest several years ago. Beginning with the Titanic in 1985,
Ballard
has found several historic wrecks in deep water using manned
submersibles and robotic vehicles.
The Black Sea project, funded by the National Geographic Society
and
the University of Pennsylvania, began in 1995, when teams of
archaeologists on land and in shallow water began mapping Synope
and its
environs.
Synope is about 200 miles directly south across the Black Sea's
abyssal
waters from the Crimea--a natural terminus for an ancient trade
route.
Ballard said he intends to use a deep-sea robot next summer to
look for a
sea lane.
"The first thing you find is trash; you didn't have
Adopt-a-Highway
then," he said. And where there is trash, there are sure to
be wrecks.
"My biggest problem is going to be trees," he added. If
wooden ships
can survive in the Black Sea's depths, then so can trees. The
bottom
could look like a forest.
These difficulties, Ballard said, are different from those
inherent in
the search for flood-plain settlements. Many of these were
probably
buried--and lost forever--when a thick layer of sediment swept
into the
old lake with the flood waters. And Ballard suspects many others
have
been destroyed by the trawlers that have been scouring the sea
bottom
for thousands of years.
Still, he said, there are plenty of "relic surfaces"
near Synope, where
the water simply rose quickly to submerge intact whatever lay
below.
Ballard's sonar sweeps this summer found a gentle coastline
"frozen in
time," he said.
"In a perfect world you'll see a fence," Ballard said,
or maybe a
stockade or even a house. And there will likely be plenty of
artifacts,
because "when the flood came, people just had to run."
© Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company
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