| The Leonids |
 |
|
Leonid Main
• Introduction
• Observing
• Predictions History • Photos • Artwork • Links • Leonid MAC '99 |
1966 Leonids: Toshiyuki Ishikawa
Toshiyuki Ishikawa was an officer aboard a freighter in 1966. On the night of the Leonids the ship was in the Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of Baja California. They were out of sight of land. His son related the following story to the Author in December 1996--
The night watch on the night noticed the great meteor activity and when the peak was approaching could not hold it to himself and began banging on the doors of the boat crew to tell them to come out of the sleep and go outside and watch the show in the sky.
According to my father, the unobstructed view from the ship (ship usually darkens the illumination during the ocean voyage so that they can adjust to the darkness) gave the crew a spectacular view of many bright meteors. He told us that some meteors were as bright as half, or full moons and every time such meteors flew, the ocean surrounding the ship reflected back the light as if it were daytime and it was surreal experience for the crew. (This reflection from the ocean of the meteor light is something I had not read before in Astronomy books.)
Anyway, they were so surprised and a telegram was sent to the Tokyo astronomical observatory to report this unusual observation.
Later while he was still away from home on the voyage, someone at the observatory sent us a very detailed courteous letter explaining that it must have been the leonid shower that the ship's crew saw. I was small like 5th grader and didn't read the letter myself.
C&MS Home | Calendar | Meteor Information | Links | Glossary
If you have any questions, please email me