texas

skywatchers report


Welcome to the University of Texas Skywatchers' Report for November 19th to the 25th .

The moon is at first quarter on Thursday. Saturn rises a little after 6:00 p.m. this week and Mars is in the south-southwest at sundown. Jupiter rises around 8:30.

Although it was cloudy in Austin, observers in clear locations got quite a show from this year's Leonid meteor shower. The earth passed through the rich debris cloud left by the passage of Comet Tempel-Tuttle in 1766 creating a particularly strong burst of activity for the shower this year. Observers in the western parts of North American and in Hawaii reported as many as 1200 meteors an hour, while preliminary reports from Asian nations show up to 6,000 meteors an hour in some locations. Since the weather did not cooperate for viewers in central Texas last weekend, you may want to check out the gallery of Leonid photographs at www.spaceweather.com

There will be no public viewing on campus telescopes this week due to the Thanksgiving Holiday. Regular public will resume next week on Wednesday nights at Robert Lee Moore Hall and Saturday nights at Painter Hall, both starting at 7:00 p.m.

Thank you for calling the University of Texas Skywatchers' report and have a happy and safe Thanksgiving weekend.