Spectacular Meteor Shower Expected

Yahoo.com ^ | 11-18-02

[petuniasevan]

This is it people! Start watching the sky toward the east and south. The moon will be a factor, but face away from it and that will help.

Be sure your eastern/southern sky view is unobstructed and has as little light pollution as possible.

I will be here at the keyboard for another 40-60 minutes.

Questions anyone?

[patriciaruth]

Think we'll see anything through the fog?

[Brad’s Gramma]

How fast can you make it down to Orange Cty? We've got clear skies.

Knock softly. The dog will bark.

[petuniasevan]

Depends on how high the fog extends.

Can you see aircraft? The planet Jupiter? Any stars?

If not, your viewing is probably ruined.

But you can watch coverage on NASA TV.

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/16nov_leonidstv.htm

[petuniasevan]

Oh. Dummy me. I used to LIVE in the Sacto Valley -- Chico. Just head on up to the Sierra Foothills (or Coast hills, if closer) until you're above the fog layer. The higher the elevation the better.

[Howlin]

I just went outside and saw a few already. Man, it's cold though! Moon is "setting" soon....or at least at my house!

[petuniasevan]

Cool, huh?

I'm running this browser on "night vision" so I can stay dark-adapted.

Be careful out there and stay warm.

Enjoy the show!

[patriciaruth]

Been a lot of accidents here lately, so I think we'll pass on driving in the dark to nearby higher elevation, although we did that for the Hyakutaki comet and another meteor shower once.

However, we'll mosey out in a couple hours and see if the fog has a thinner patch in the southeastern sky. Thanks for the headsup on the direction to look.

[patriciaruth]

Where are you two located?

[petuniasevan]

I'm in the Fox Valley of Wisconsin (near Appleton, 40 miles southwest of Green Bay).

[Howlin]

I'm in Raleigh, North Carolina.

[patriciaruth]

We're in the Central Valley of California.

[patriciaruth]

No chance of us going over the Grapevine tonight, but thanks for the invite.

[WSGilcrest]

check this out--> http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/estimator.html

[petuniasevan]

Yep. Used that doohickey several times tonight and this past week.

Thanks for linking it.

[Cacique]

btt

[petuniasevan]

I'm heading out now.

Good luck all!

[prisoner6]

WOW! In Pittsburgh at midnight it was clear but the moon had a HUGE ring around it. Then from about 1AM we had high-level, thick haze so I figured we'd miss out as usual.

But at around 5:10 I went outside for a look and the haze had cleared a bit and viewing was acceptable for Pittsburgh. That's when I saw an orangeish-yellow bolide! It traveled E to W from just before zenith through 20-30 degrees! BEAUTIFUL! Several small meteors as well.

prisoner6

[stlrocket]

Reporting in from Phoenix - just saw 19 mostly zooming from ENE to SSW. Very FAST!

The Moon is very bright - enough to cast shadows here.

[Physicist]

Report from Philadelphia:

No activity visible for 11 pm peak, despite near optimal viewing conditions (after taking into account a full f---ing moon and copious metropolitan light pollution).

Saw 10 meteors between 4:30 and 5:30. Patchy high cloud cover with a light haze, but stars visible to second magnitude. Saw a large satellite (possibly ISS) pass within 30 degrees of zenith at 5:10, heading southeast. Saw a possible Iridium flare to the south at 5:14.

Saw 46 meteors between 5:30 and 6:00.

I would call this a good meteor shower with a sharp peak around 5:45, but not a storm. Last year's show was better I saw several hundred meteors during the Leonids last year, including a fireball, but then again viewing conditions were much better.