(SNES) Leonid Report

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

Hello, Everyone

I looked out from my back deck at 11:00 and was greeted with the sight of
patches of moonlight filtering through the less dense areas of heavy clouds.
No sign of the actual moon at all, which should have been about 30 degrees
east of the zenith.  The brightest spot in the sky was where I would have
expected to see Cassiopeia.  I was really hoping to catch some of the earth
grazers that would have been produced by the European peak at about this time.
Another look at 12:00 showed no perceptible change in conditions.

My wife and I went out at 4:00 to discover the massive clouds had given way to
a sky completely covered by a layer of thin alto-stratus, which captured every
photon of moonlight and scattered it across the entire sky with equal
brilliance.  Jupiter, just west of Leo's sickle where the meteor shower's
radiant was located, was shining brightly.  I could not trace the entire
sickle's inverted "?" however Regulus was very obvious.  The 'Winter Hexagon'
of 1st magnitude stars circling Betelgeuse was easily traced, with Sirius just
rising from the southeastern horizon.  Best guess of the limiting visual
magnitude is that it varied from about 3.5 to about 2.5, depending on the
thickness of the intervening layer of clouds.  In 15 minutes, not one meteor
was seen.

I continued to check at each successive 1/2 hour interval, spending 15 minutes
each time,and was finally rewarded with the sighting of 2 meteors streaking
west from the radiant, about 2 minutes apart, at 5:02 - 5:04.  My last check
was at 6:00, when I was also hoping to see a -1 mag Iridium flare at 6:10.
Dawn was definitely breaking by then, but no more Leonids were seen, nor was
the Iridium flare.

I logged on to NASA's Web TV at 5:45, and caught a live interview with the
staff at the Kitt Peak observatory just south of Tucson, Arizona.  They were
reporting a ZHR (Zenith Hourly Rate) of about 300 at that time, which was 3:45
AM there, and said they had collectively agreed that this was most likely the
height of expected activity.

I saw two.

Sure am glad I had the opportunity to spend the night for last year's fabulous
display with a small group of friends at a dark sight.  That night is certain
to remain one of the highlights of my astronomical life.

Respectfully,

Les Lytton
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