BS The Salt Lake Tribuné UTAH Monday, Ni Utahns Give Leonid Meteor Show Two ThumbsUpforBrilliance Atits peak, as many as 1,250 meteorslighted the sky in one hour BY BROOKE ADAMS likely disappointed as clouds The shower began as a mere THESALT LAKETRIBUNE movedacross that part of the state early Sunday, obscuring the sky around3 a.m. when the trickle around1 a.m. and then, about 2:30 a.m., it “was like Utahns who were able to elude cloudy skies and city lights say they were spellbound by the dazzling light show put on by Comet Tempel-Tuttle early Sunday morning. “Tt was bing, bing, bing, one here, there, one behind you, one overhead,” said Lee Siegel, a University of Utah science publicist whotraveled withhis family to the San Francisco Mountains about 30 miles north of Milford in pursuit of a good view of the Leonid meteor shower. “It went on pretty heavyin bursts, It was much better thanI expected.” Added his wife, Shannon: “Harry Potter was nothing compared with the show we saw.” Thousandsof Utahns awoke early in hopes of catching the starry extravagan; which was reportedly visible as early 1 urday and as Sunday. Salt Lake Valley, streamsof cars pou red up Big and Emipeople gration canyons searched forclear skies. Cottonwood,Parl Many residents of Northern Utah whoventurednofarther thantheir front porches were someone turned the spigot on. predicted to be We saw70 in the first hour and heaviest. Still, some Salt Lakers said theywereableto see a then that many in five or six shower was fewfalling stars through the patchy clouds. The Leonid shower occurs each November when the Earth’s orbit takes it through minutes. At the high point, there were as manyas a thou sand anhour,” he said. “And these were not just your little wimpymeteors. You could see them fromhorizon to horizon.” the trail of particles most smaller thana grain ofrice — shed by the Comet TempelTuttle as it swings around the sunevery 33 years. The particles travelat 45 miles a second. The last major Leonid shower, so namedbecause it there were “a wholebunchof “ bolides meteors that flew across the sky and then explodedinbrilliant flashes. Tony) Phillips, an astronomerand editor of the Science NASA Website, said some of appears to come from the con- the largest fireballs rivaled Ve- stellation Leo, was in 1966. The nextis expected for 2099. NASAestimatedthatat its peak, as many as 1,250 meteors per hour streaked through the skies Sunday, much to the delight of stargazers across North America, where, depending on the weather, views werebest. Patrick Wigginsof Salt Lake City’s Hansen Planetarium traveled to an area just outside Virgin nearSt. George. “Tdidn’t wantto get skunked onthis one,” he : Andhedidn’ lesaw such a storm. It went on and on,” he said. Many left glowing trails and nus in brightness, momentarily illuminating objects on the ground. Wiggins and his fiancé Patricia MeWhorter were driving back toward Salt Lake when that sort of spectacular meteor surged overhead at precisely 5:52 a.m.It flew from south to north, just above the mountains east of Interstate 15, /letting off a sputtering, flores¢ent emerald green light before exploding in a flash of particles that turned red as they cooled. Russell Gates/The Associated Press “That was the king of the Thebrilliant Leonid meteor showerflashesin the Arizona desert sky at 4 a.m. Sunday. The streaksoflight in the background are madebythestars during time-lapse photography. night,” he said, “leading us Lute,aOd $6 & Fi WITH THIS COUPON ChangeOFF ESCO is having a LENNOX High Efficiency FURNACEAND AIR CONDITIONERSALE. With over 500 Lennox Furnaces and over 400 LennoxAir Conditioners available for immediate installation at the lowest "SALE" prices of the year. Dial 'COMFORT'(266-3678) for a free, no-obligation estimate from one of our Comfort Consultants. 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