[meteorite-list] Leonids From Texas

From: CMcdon0923_at_aol.com <CMcdon0923_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:06:16 2004
Message-ID: <12.28f239f3.2b0bc997_at_aol.com>

Set the alarm for 2:45 and headed outside with a big mug of hot chocolate at
03:00 (CST). I had set up my scope earlier that evening to do some Saturn
and Jupiter observing since I was going to be outside at this ungodly hour,
anyway.

I settled in with the moon at my back, and in about 5 minutes I had my first
Leonid. Relative sparse for the first hour or so...maybe one or two per
minute. Saw two nice sporadics. Things started to pick up around
0400....several per minute. At about 0425 they started coming every few
seconds, with up to 4 or five in bursts. This seemed to last about 15-20
minutes and then it slowed noticeably. By 0530 it was back to one every
minute or so, so I packed it in for the night (morning?).

Total count for the 2-1/2 hours I observed was 245 Leonids and five
sporadics. Certainly, I must have missed a few while I had my eye to the
scope, but overall I was pleased with the show.

Craig McDonald
Frisco, Texas
Received on Tue 19 Nov 2002 12:06:31 PM PST