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CNN Live At Daybreak

Leonid Meteor Shower Supposed to be Show of Century

Aired November 19, 2002 - 05:10   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Every November people look to the skies to watch the Leonid meteor showers. But this year's is supposed to be the show of the century. And we are just minutes away from the peak time for viewing, and that would be around 5:37 Eastern time.
CNN's Ann Kellan is far from the city lights this morning and may just have the best seat in the house for one spectacular show -- boy, you are in the dark.

ANN KELLAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are having fun out here. But, you know, we got here and the clouds, it clouded over and we were really worried. But just a few minutes ago, the skies opened up a little bit and you are able to go out, if you are anywhere on the East Coast now you probably want to take a look outside and just see if you can see some shooting stars. And we saw a few of them a little while ago and every now and then.

The Georgia Stat University Astronomy Club is here with me and I'm here with Ginny and Angela. And they are here to tell us that you saw a few earlier today, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've seen several. Actually about an hour ago it clouded up. But before that we were seeing about 20 to 30 an hour. And now that we have a break in the clouds, we're seeing one every few seconds.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, the peak is right about now.

KELLAN: Right about now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Actually, about half an hour from now.

KELLAN: And it doesn't last that long.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, it doesn't.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The peak is expected to be between like 5:37 and 5:42 a.m.

KELLAN: And we're hearing oohs and aahs back there because there are shooting stars going up. And this is, unfortunately, a full moon, as well, and that can get in the way of people looking at it. And so what we're advising people to do is look away from the full moon, which would be toward the Big Dipper. And hopefully if the skies are clear, you will get a show. I mean we're seeing it. What basically you're seeing is comet dust, debris from a comet that zipped by and the earth goes through its path. The last time it was by was, what, 1998?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 1998.

KELLAN: But it's, it has a 32 cycle around the sun.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thirty-three years.

KELLAN: A 33 year cycle around the sun. So this is pretty recent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

KELLAN: But the debris we're going through right now during the peak is, what, now? How old is that dust?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is from 1866, from the comet's passage that year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was four cycles ago from its orbit around the sun.

KELLAN: So we're seeing some old dust.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

KELLAN: But there's a lot of 'em, so try to get out there and see the show.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And actually...

KELLAN: And we're out of time, but we'll be back. Stay tuned.

COSTELLO: They want to have their say, Ann.

KELLAN: Yes, I know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But we want to say more.

COSTELLO: Yes, and we have...

KELLAN: And we want to thank...

COSTELLO: We had pictures up. I just wanted to explain to people that those were graphic images, not the meteor showers.

CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think I have dust in my house that's that old.

KELLAN: And we were going to give Chad a little grief because it was so cloudy a little while ago. But we want to thank you for the break in the clouds, Chad.

COSTELLO: Yes, thanks, Chad.

KELLAN: Thank you very much.

MYERS: Let's see what I can do for 20 more minutes, Ann.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired November 19, 2002 - 05:10   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Every November people look to the skies to watch the Leonid meteor showers. But this year's is supposed to be the show of the century. And we are just minutes away from the peak time for viewing, and that would be around 5:37 Eastern time.
CNN's Ann Kellan is far from the city lights this morning and may just have the best seat in the house for one spectacular show -- boy, you are in the dark.

ANN KELLAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are having fun out here. But, you know, we got here and the clouds, it clouded over and we were really worried. But just a few minutes ago, the skies opened up a little bit and you are able to go out, if you are anywhere on the East Coast now you probably want to take a look outside and just see if you can see some shooting stars. And we saw a few of them a little while ago and every now and then.

The Georgia Stat University Astronomy Club is here with me and I'm here with Ginny and Angela. And they are here to tell us that you saw a few earlier today, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've seen several. Actually about an hour ago it clouded up. But before that we were seeing about 20 to 30 an hour. And now that we have a break in the clouds, we're seeing one every few seconds.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, the peak is right about now.

KELLAN: Right about now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Actually, about half an hour from now.

KELLAN: And it doesn't last that long.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, it doesn't.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The peak is expected to be between like 5:37 and 5:42 a.m.

KELLAN: And we're hearing oohs and aahs back there because there are shooting stars going up. And this is, unfortunately, a full moon, as well, and that can get in the way of people looking at it. And so what we're advising people to do is look away from the full moon, which would be toward the Big Dipper. And hopefully if the skies are clear, you will get a show. I mean we're seeing it. What basically you're seeing is comet dust, debris from a comet that zipped by and the earth goes through its path. The last time it was by was, what, 1998?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 1998.

KELLAN: But it's, it has a 32 cycle around the sun.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thirty-three years.

KELLAN: A 33 year cycle around the sun. So this is pretty recent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

KELLAN: But the debris we're going through right now during the peak is, what, now? How old is that dust?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is from 1866, from the comet's passage that year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was four cycles ago from its orbit around the sun.

KELLAN: So we're seeing some old dust.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

KELLAN: But there's a lot of 'em, so try to get out there and see the show.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And actually...

KELLAN: And we're out of time, but we'll be back. Stay tuned.

COSTELLO: They want to have their say, Ann.

KELLAN: Yes, I know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But we want to say more.

COSTELLO: Yes, and we have...

KELLAN: And we want to thank...

COSTELLO: We had pictures up. I just wanted to explain to people that those were graphic images, not the meteor showers.

CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think I have dust in my house that's that old.

KELLAN: And we were going to give Chad a little grief because it was so cloudy a little while ago. But we want to thank you for the break in the clouds, Chad.

COSTELLO: Yes, thanks, Chad.

KELLAN: Thank you very much.

MYERS: Let's see what I can do for 20 more minutes, Ann.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com