[meteorite-list] Leonids from Flagstaff, AZ

From: Steven Schoner <american_meteorite_survey_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:06:16 2004
Message-ID: <20021122062557.16428.qmail_at_web11408.mail.yahoo.com>

On the 19th it was cold, and cloudy till about 2 AM,
when the sky finally cleared.

I set up an old steel milk crate and put under it my
Coleman "Cat" catalytic heater. I then set up two
lawn chairs close togeter and me and my wife threw a
blanket over ourselves and the heater setup...
resulting in a very nice warm situation for cold
weather meteor observing. The shower was slow with
few sightings until about 3 AM when things appeared to
pick up. By 3:30 the number of shooting stars had
reached what was definitely "storm" levels with as
many as 2 to 5 seen simultaneously. They came in
spurts, and between 3:45 and 4:00AM it was at a peak.
I counted at least 100 during that time. They were
faint for the most part with several bright fireballs
leaving nice luminous trains.

Overall it was a good show, and certainly would have
been better had the moon not been so bright.

Tonight, 21st, at 11:00 PM I was driving home and
spotted a very bright Leonid fireball earthgrazer. I
traced its path directly to the Leonid radiant just
beginning to rise on the eastern horizon, so I suspect
that meteors are still to be seen. I will check it
before going to bed. I suspect that there is more to
be seen from this shower, and it would be nice to see
if there is a repeat of the 1998 fireball "storm"

I wonder if such is possible several days after
passing the major streams.

Steve Schoner.
http://www.geocities.com/american_meteorite_survey


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Received on Fri 22 Nov 2002 01:25:57 AM PST