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UCLA students take respite from studying to watch annual Leonids meteor shower

By Sean Greene

Nov. 18, 2009 11:08 p.m.

City lights pollute the skyline surrounding UCLA, obscuring all but the brightest stars in the night sky.

But the simple reality of light pollution was not enough to stop many students from turning out late at night to behold the annual Leonids meteor shower, which was visible Monday and Tuesday.

Atop Boelter Hall, seven suitemates and friends sat under the stars, trying to catch a glimpse of a shooting star through the Los Angeles smog and light.

“It feels like time stops,” said Travis Lau, a second-year English student.

Lau said viewing the meteors provided a break from the daily stress of student life.

“When you’re up here, time just doesn’t happen. It sort of moves really slowly,” he said. “The sky stays the same and when you see that flash of light, it’s like, “˜Wow, that’s a breath of fresh air.'”

The flashes seen during the shower were caused by small specks of meteors traveling at 10 to 20 miles per hour burning up in the atmosphere, said astronomy Professor Matt Malkan.

“A pea-sized object would make a very bright fireball,” he said. “Most of the ones you see are even smaller than that.”

Every year around mid-November, the earth passes through the orbit of Tempel-Tuttle, a comet named for its two independent discoverers in 1865, Malkan said.

“There have been some fairly spectacular showers associated with this comet,” Malkan said. “The earth is plowing through a fresh field of debris.”

Since the earth has recently passed through the comet’s debris trail in the late ’90s, more frequent meteors can be seen from Earth.

The name “Leonids” comes from the direction of the sky where the meteors appear to come from, Malkan said ““ in this case, the constellation Leo.

This year, the meteor shower was predicted to appear most prominently in Asia. Due to light pollution in Los Angeles, however, Malkan said the estimated peak rate of 300 meteors per hour would be severely reduced.

“You lose many of the fainter ones when you’re in L.A.,” he said.

For second-year biology student Lillie Nguyen, the light pollution was no concern.

“I think the lighting on top of Boelter is actually better than a lot of the other places here on campus,” Nguyen said. “There’s no light on the top, or as much as you’d see down on the floor or other areas.”

Others saw the meteor showers as a possible relief from the stress of midterms.

“I came mainly because I have a math midterm tomorrow and I really needed a break, and I also have a paper due tomorrow,” said Paula Gonzalez, a second-year psychobiology student. “I just came out because my roommates were excited to go, so I decided to come.”

The experience alone made gathering under the stars with roommates worthwhile, Gonzalez said.

“We haven’t really been out together too much,” she said. “So just for us to come out kind of late at night just to see it together and experience it together … was totally worth it.”

Michie Cao, a second-year biology student, said she was happy to share the experience of watching the same meteors as her friend Nguyen.

“It was like a silver streak through the sky,” Cao said. “It was kind of small, but very visible.”

The next meteor shower will occur mid-December with the Geminids.

“Everyone should do this every year, whenever there is a meteor shower,” Cao said.

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