[meteorite-list] Re: Leonids From SoCal Desert

From: ajones_at_siliconspace.com <ajones_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:47:12 2004
Message-ID: <OFC0B91C60.090047A2-ON88256B08.007A9B3E_at_siliconspace.com>

Greetings Everyone!

It sounds like most of you enjoyed a pretty good show last night! The
total number I saw was not extra-ordinary, but spectacular just the same!

Leaving San Diego
================
At around 12:00am I left San Diego on the 8 heading East, only to find more
traffic than during afternoon rush hour! While this did cause a bit of
frustration, I was genuinely excited that this many -Joe/Jane Q. Public's-
were interested enough to make the trip outside the limits of the city
lights to catch the show. I personally have never seen this many sky
watchers headed out to the 'field'!

Luckily the traffic/crowd thinned out past Alpine and Pine Valley, so I
maxed the speedometer to catch up on some lost time. The drive was not a
total waste as I have a convertible and saw between 20-50 meteors during
the trip ( I apologize if I ran any of you off the road !! ). My
passenger was even luckier viewing en route, as she was constantly taunting
me with comments such as "did you see that?" and "what a trail!", and most
importantly "watch the road!".

Arriving in the Anza-Borrego Desert
==============================
We arrived at camp in the Crucifixion Thorn Wilderness Area around 2:30am
and were setup by 2:45am. The thin cloud layer was discouraging at first
but started to dissipate in part by around 3:15am. (( The main frustration
came from the fact that I camp out in this exact spot several times a month
and it is NEVER cloudy!! )).

After gazing a bit I realized that the clouds were transparent enough to
reveal most of the brighter meteors, and there were many clear areas where
some spectacular 'streaks' could be seen! Peak time out there seemed to be
from about 4:15am - 5:00am. Actually I think I may have seen the bolide
that Steve mentioned from Flagstaff.

All in all, my total count for the night from camp (not including travel)
was 209, I know that's not too many, but nonetheless, the most I've ever
seen!


Thoroughly Stoked! -- Art

Art Jones
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Received on Sun 18 Nov 2001 05:26:51 PM PST