(SNES) What A Wondrous Universe

["Les Lytton" <Starman@SAMnet.net>]

Hello everyone,

This sure is a wonderful and awesome world we live in.  Last night's
experience with the Leonids puts emphasis - with a Capital E - on why
I have been so totally engrossed in the beauty and wonders of
astronomy all my life.  New England has a horrible track record of
clouding out all but a handful of the best of the meteor showers for
more than a decade now, so last night's prolific appearance of the
Leonids was all the sweeter.  I can only speak for myself when I say
that the Leonids of 2001 definitely puts a cap on a lifetime of meteor
shower observing, and has paid me back in full measure for all the
past disappointments and frustrations.

I arrived at the small 80 acre Dennis Hill State Park, four miles
south of the small village of Norfolk in the extreme NW corner CT, at
about 6:15 PM, and found the other four members of our group already
set up and observing.  Vince Stokes from the Litchfield Hills Amateur
Astronomy Club (whose gracious invitation allowed me to be there) had
his Celestron CG-11 up and running, his friend Dave (sorry, Dave, I
don't remember your last name) had his Vixen 120 refractor up and
running  Mike Kelly had his cute little Celestron 60 up as well (in case no
one
brought binoculars, he said).  I felt like the party poop because I
had intentionally left my orange C-14 monster at home...  but I did
have my 11x80 binocs on their trusty tripod.

Dennis Hill is 1,650 feet high, has a cleared summit that offers about
five acres of viewing along a full 3600 unobstructed horizon (the only
exception is the old house that sits in the center of the field,
but it has an open observation deck on its roof), with Bortle class 7+
skies - about as perfect a setting for the upcoming meteor shower as
Connecticut offers.  The sky had a light layer of high altitude haze,
along with peroidic stratus clouds that would condense out and then
evaporate away, as the high altitude water vapor would progress from a
warm zone to a cold zone, back to a warm zone, etc.  ...not the best
sky conditions, but very tolerable indeed.  Actually, the sky was
mostly empty of clouds from about 11:00 until around 4:30.  Because of
the altitude and open ground, the temperature dropped off very quickly
to the high 20s.

All remained quiet and meteor free until about 8:30 (kinda like the
calm before the storm - pardon the pun).  The time was well spent with
the array of observing equipment at hand.  The first Leonid of the
night streaked out of the east, across the northern horizon, parallel
to, and only about 200 above the horizon.  It was an amazingly slow
meteor (I estimate its speed at no more than 15km/sec if that fast)
which took almost 5 seconds to traverse about 1500 of sky before it
burned out.  It was bright orange, and left a very broad smoke train.
For the next two hours or more, there were at least 50 more of this
same type of meteor, until Leo climbed above the eastern horizon.  One
spectacular meteor emerged from the eastern horizon, burned it way to
the zenith, at which point it disintegrated into five separate
fragments, which then fanned out, each leaving its own smoke trail as
they diverged on across the sky to burnout.  That was truly awesome to
see.

About the time M44 Beehive Cluster rose above the horizon, the
characteristics of the meteors had changed.  Their speed increased
significantly, each lasting only a second or less, and because the
angle of entry was now much more acute, the fiery trains became much
shorter as the meteors began diving more directly toward the observer.
Around this time, the shower appears to have achieved a temporary peak.
The activity dropped considerably from 11:30 until about 1:30 (kind of
a lull between the storms).  During this early period of activity,
numerous Orionid meteors were observed, which played an interesting
counterpart to the Leonids.  It was like watching two constellations
having a personal contest, to see who could throw the most the
farthest - with Leo the winner by a large margin.  I personally
counted 17 Orionids by 11:30, and they continued for the duration of
the night.

When the earth plowed into the densest part of the meteorite stream at
about 3:00, Leo was well up in the southeast, and the meteors again
took on an even more foreshortened appearance.  The typical path was no
longer than a few degrees, and the speed was extremely fast now, each
lasting no longer than a fraction of a second.  The long slow early
ones gave someone ample time to turn when hearing, "Oh, look at that
one!" and see the meteor burning its way across the sky.  Now, these
extremely fast, short duration main storm meteors were either seen or
missed.  The most meteors were seen by laying prone, looking straight
up to the zenith, and using peripheral vision to take in as much sky
as possible.  That is exactly what I did:  I was in my sleeping bag,
on a collapsible chaise lounge.  I really sympathized with the others
who were standing, heads bent back, developing incredibly stiff necks,
turning from one direction to the other!

Because the State Park officials had left the park's entrance gate
open (obviously for the night's event), cars of potential observers
sporadically came and went all night long, none staying more than a
few minutes because of the cold temperature (and the wind which had
come up about midnight).  Whenever this happened, our little group
howled and moaned because of the headlight bath.  However, about 3:30,
the cars began parking.  By 5:00, there were at least 50 cars all
around us, and 150 people or more had arrived to witness the big show!
...and we thought we had the place to ourselves!!  Everyone had a
great time.  It was quite a crowd!  All of the "Oooohs!" and "Wows!"
blended into an awe inspired roar with each burst of activity!  The
cold crowd quickly hurried away at dawn.

Thank you, Connecticut State Park Authority, for considering and
accommodating your patrons!

And Thank You, O Great Universe, for providing me with an experience
that I will remember for the rest of my life!

Les Lytton
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