August 30, 1999
Press Release
Leonid Meteor Live Committee
Media i Corporation

Leonid Meteor Live Broadcast

Media i Corporation(Representative: Tadashi Mori; Hachioji-shi, Tokyo) and Goto Optical Mfg.,Co.(Representative: Ryuichiro Goto; Fuchu-shi, Tokyo) have organized the Leonids Live Project Committee and will carry out a live broadcast of Leonid Meteor Shower on November 17,1999 which will be the most active on that day.

Media i Corporation (Representative: Tadashi Mori; Hachioji-shi, Tokyo) and Goto Optical Mfg.,Co. (Representative: Ryuichiro Goto; Fuchu-shi, Tokyo) have organized the Leonids Live Project Committee to carry out a live broadcast of the Leonid Meteor Shower on November 17,1999 from Yatsugatake Observatory which is owned by Goto Optical and located in Nagano prefecture, Japan.

The system will use a video camera with an Image Intensifer and is based on the same system that was used for the on-demand video of Leonids broadcast that was carried out by the Milkyway Live Project Committee organized by Media i Corp. and others last year. This year we will use a wide lens so that people can watch the live event more clearly.

The Leonid Meteor Shower became very popular last year(1998) and was a kind of social phenomenon. Unfortunately we didn't see as many meteors as we had expected, however it was a significant event in that it provided a chance to familiarize space and nature. It is expected that Japan and the surrounding Asian area will not be a good location to observe the meteors this year. But the prediction of meteor activities is very difficult so we may have a chance to see a greater number of meteors. We hope to be able to show meteors to people who live in areas with bad weather conditions or abroad. These images will be available free of charge.

You can access more information at the following URL.
http://www.media-i.com/Leonids99/index.html

Mirror sites:
http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~t-mori/Leonids99/index.html
http://member.nifty.ne.jp/t-mori/Leonids99/index.html

Organization
Executed by
Leonid Meteor Live Committee
Media i Corporation
Goto Optical Mfg.,Co.
Presented by

Supported by
Science Education Promoting Liaison Conference
Cooperation with
Fujitsu B.S.C.
Fujimic, Inc.

For information
Leonid Meteor Live Committee Office
Media i Corporation
3-21-20 Motohongo-cho, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 192-0051 Japan
TEL: +81-426-20-0378
FAX: +81-426-20-0382

Project Outline

(1) Date and Time
7:00pm, Wed., Nov.17 to 5:00am, Thu., Nov.18 in 1999 (JST)
In case of bad weather conditions, we will reschedule the live date.

(2) Object
Pupils at school
High school students
General people

(3) Access objective
100,000PV (Total)

(4) Strong point
Provision of video images captured by an Image Intensifier

Explanation

Leonid Meteor Shower
Many meteors are visible when the earth crosses the orbit of a comet and ice and dust from the comet drop to the earth. This phenomenon is called a "Meteor Shower". The Leonid Meteor Shower can be observed during November every year when the earth crosses the orbit of the Comet Tempel-Tuttle, an event which becomes an outburst every 33 years (due to the comet's revolution period). Last year was the most active in 33 years and so this year we may see many meteors.

Image Intensifier
Equipment that multiplies weak light up to tens of thousands times lighter. It will be connected to a video camera and take images of stars and meteors.

Goto Optical Mfg.,Co.
A major manufacturer of Planetaria, Large Format Film and Astronomical Telescopes. Especially they have nearly 70% share of the planetaria market in Japan. Also they are a business leader and developed the Virtuarium which provides All-Sky and 3D CG images.

Media i Corporation
A company which was established by engineers who worked at Goto for several years. They support broad areas such as the Internet, Multimedia and Circuit design as well as the design of electoronic devices. Media i Corporation have carried out many live broadcasts including the Yosakoi Festival Live Broadcast, Solar Eclipse Live and Milkyway Live.

FYI

Milkyway Live Broadcast
http://www.media-i.com/www/Milkyway/index.html

On-demand video of Leonids in 1998
http://www.media-i.com/www/Milkyway/video/index.html

Contact

Media i Corporation
Multimedia Business Department
3-21-20 Motohongo-cho, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo 192-0051 Japan
TEL: +81-426-20-0378 FAX: +81-426-20-0382
http://www.media-i.com/index.html

Goto Optical Mfg.,Co.
4-16 Yazaki-cho, Fuchu-shi, Tokyo 183-8531 Japan
TEL: +81-42-362-5311 FAX:+81-42-361-9571
http://www.goto.co.jp/index-e.html

Fujitsu B.S.C.
Computer Systems Division #3
4-15-33 Shibaura, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8531 Japan
TEL: +81-3-5476-2821 FAX: +81-3-5484-3705
http://www.bsc.co.jp/

Fujimic, Inc.
Communication Business Department
3-32-42 Higashishinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
TEL: +81-3-5495-1101 FAX: +81-3-5495-1099
http://www.fujisankei-g.co.jp/fujimic/

Copyright © 1999, Leonids Live Project Committee. All Rights Reserved.
Office of Leonids Live Project Committee