A Witch's Daily: Thor's Day - Leonids Meteor Shower

"I'm one with the Goddess
and open to Her Wisdom."

23rd Day of the 12th Lunar Cycle
Ruled by Medusa
Lunar Tree Cycle of Ngetal/Reed
22nd Day of the Celtic Tree
Month of Ngetal/Reed
Moon Phase: Disseminating
Moon sets: 12:16PM EST
Moon rises: 11:21PM EST
Moon in the Fixed Fire Sign of Leo
Ceridwen's Cycle of the Moon
Lumar Meditation: The dormant life of the seed.
Sun in Scorpio
Sunrise: 7:08AM EST
Sunset: 5:02PM EST
Solar Question of the Day: "Are you
fulfilling your spiritual vocation?"
Samhain (Calan Gaeaf) Quarter
of the Year
November 17th, 2011

Thor's Day - Jupiter Day - the Day of Vision, Spiritual Insight and Expansion....

Leonids Meteor Shower -      Rises around midnight....Comets shed the debris that becomes most meteor showers. As comets orbit the Sun, they shed an icy, dusty debris stream along the comet's orbit. If Earth travels through this stream, we will see a meteor shower. Depending on where Earth and the stream meet, meteors appear to fall from a particular place in the sky, maybe within the neighborhood of a constellation. How can you see the meteor shower? f you live near a brightly lit city, drive away from the glow of city lights and toward the constellation from which the meteors will appear to radiate.
Drive north to view the Leonids. Driving south may lead you to darker skies, but the glow will dominate the northern horizon, where Leo rises. If you can see each star of the Little Dipper, your eyes have "dark adapted," and your chosen site is probably dark enough. Under these conditions, you will see plenty of meteors. Once you have settled at your observing spot, lie back or position yourself so the horizon appears at the edge of your peripheral vision, with the stars and sky filling your field of view. Meteors will instantly grab your attention as they streak by.
      In the pre-dawn hours on the mornings of November 17-19th, the offspring of Comet Temple/Tuttle will be flashing through our atmosphere at speeds of up to 72 kilometers per second – and enticing you to test your meteor watching skills against partially moonlit skies. Although the waning Moon will greatly interfere with fainter meteor trails, don’t let that stop you from enjoying early evening observations, or enjoying your morning coffee with a handful of “shooting stars” which will be emanating outward from the constellation of Leo. As our Earth passes through the dusty matter, it may encounter a place where the comet let loose with a large amount of its payload – or it may pass through an area where the “comet stuff” is thin. We might even pass through an area which produces an exciting “meteor storm” like the Leonids produced in 1883! For those in the know, the Leonid meteor shower also made a rather incredible appearance in 1866 and 1867 – dumping up to 1000 (not a typo, folks) shooting stars recorded even with a Moon present! It erupted again in 1966 and in 1998 and produced 3000 (yep. 3000!) video recorded meteors during the years of 2001 and 2002. But remember, human eyes may only be able to detect just a few. So what’s a realistic guess?

       And to make this year’s show twice as nice, you’ll have a hard time not being distracted with the Moon and Mars being right on the radiant! You won’t be able to miss the Red Planet as the Moon slides along south… First to Mars’ west and then to the east on the nights of November 18th and 19th.