2008 Leonid Meteor Shower peaking Sunday/Monday

[MeteorWayne]

<p>But with the moon and timing, conditions are not very good this year.</p><p>I managed&nbsp;to see 4 Leonids out of 14 meteors in the last 2 hours before dawn this morning.</p><p>Here's the non-nerdy section from this month's NAMN Notes:</p><p><strong>1. Have the Leonids Returned to Being a Minor Shower?...</strong> </p><p>2009 may give us one more year of above normal activity from the Leonids before the shower returns to the average rate of 10-15 per hour typical of the years between perihelia of comet 55P/Temple-Tuttle. In fact there may be some periods of enhancement this season, but none can be seen from North America and the moon will be an overwhelming presence. It is a grim outlook for the Leonids in 2008.</p><p>The nodal crossing, which is the time of the traditional peak, occurs during the early morning hours of the 17th. However, the 78% illuminated moon rises before the radiant and by the 19th will practically be on top of it. Jeremie Vaubaillon and Mikhail Maslov have predicted possible increased activity from old trails, but for North America, both occur before the radiant has cleared the horizon for the east coast, while it is still daylight for the west coast. At least for eastern Europe and Asia the radiant will be up, though the moon will be just as much of a hindrance there. Perhaps their best chance would be to see a 16 revolution old trail (hence brighter meteors) at about 0 UT on the 17th.</p><p>For North America, the best chance to see some Leonids may be during the early morning moon free hours at the start of activity before the Full Moon. Sirko Molau&rsquo;s 2008 analysis of IMO video meteors indicated the earliest Leonids begin to show up as soon as November 6th when the morning hours will be dark, and at least one moon free hour should be possible before twilight until the morning of the 10th. There might only be one or two per hour though, so great care must be used in correctly identifying any potential shower members. Since the radiant does not rise until about 10:30 PM local time, the early morning hours are the best time to look in any case.</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[yoda9999]

I think I saw one tonight. I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area. Saw one, bright as a plane around 8pm, typical shooting star, it was heading north.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>I think I saw one tonight. I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area. Saw one, bright as a plane around 8pm, typical shooting star, it was heading north. <br />Posted by yoda9999</DIV><br /><br />If it was at 8PM it was not a Leonid. The radiant doesn't rise until after at least 10 PM (later most places) so they cannot be seen that early. In fact for SF, the radiant rises at 11:01 PM, so Leonids can't be seen before then in general. (In theory, meteors can just graze the top of the atmosphere a few minutes before that but are exceedingly rare) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>If it was at 8PM it was not a Leonid. The radiant doesn't rise until after at least 10 PM (later most places) so they cannot be seen that early. In fact for SF, the radiant rises at 11:01 PM, so Leonids can't be seen before then in general. (In theory, meteors can just graze the top of the atmosphere a few minutes before that but are exceedingly rare) <br />Posted by MeteorWayne</DIV><br /><br />The latest report is that a predicted outburst occurred around 0200 UT this morning, before it could have been seen here in the US. I got out for 2.8 hours this morning under moonlit skies and managed 11 Leonids during that time, which is the anuual (i.e.) non outburst peak time. It wuz cold though!! My sleeping bag was covered in frost by morning twilight.</p><p>Latest on-the-fly IMO ZHR graph here:</p><p>http://www.imo.net/live/leonids2008/</p><p>MW</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>