(meteorobs) Leonid Activity?

[Michel Vandeputte]

Hi Anthony,

I enjoyed a 3,5 hours meteor watch this morning before dawn. Time window: 
1:50-5:20 UT. I also observed my first Leonids with rate around 1 
meteor/hour. No enhancements. Early Leonid activity is possible after I 
checked the IMO-video data from Sirko (they start around November 8).
You should be careful not to confuse Leonids for Northern apex sporadic 
meteors at this time of the year. Taurid activity was normal. Some late 
Orionids were also seen.

Long trains,

Michel
Ronse, Belgium.



----- Original Message ----- 
From: <GLDSKTR at aol.com>
To: <meteorobs at meteorobs.org>
Sent: Saturday, November 08, 2008 12:02 PM
Subject: (meteorobs) Leonid Activity?


> All,
>
> This morning, 11.8.08, I woke up around 3:30am ET, USA here in  Florida.
> Couldn't fall back to sleep, so I decided to try for some Taurids  around 
> 4am.
> Skies were crystal clear. I wasn't keeping times or coordinates,  just 
> enjoying
> the sky. I didn't expect to be out long.
>
>  Inside of 15-20 minutes, I saw two 1st Mag. Leonids. This usually 
> wouldn't
> catch my attention, except that:
> 1. It's early in the month
> 2. It's not an "active" year for the Leonids.
>
> In between, there were plenty of satellites to entertain me. Around 
> 4:30am,
> I walked inside real fast to grab a quick bite, and came back out. Another
> lightning-fast 2nd Mag. Leonid! If I wasn't looking right at it, I 
> probably
> would have missed it. A few minutes later, watching a very bright 
> satellite
> (Possibly the ISS?) Another 0 Mag., or brighter, Leonid shot right past 
> it! By
> this time, my attention was far away from the Taurids. I did manage to see 
> one
> out of the corner of my eye through Canis Major, but I hardly cared.   :) 
> The
> North side of the sky was blocked by the roof. Maybe there were  more? I 
> came
> back in around 5:15am ET when things seemed to slow down. Now that  I 
> think
> of it, I should have stayed out!
>
> This is probably insignificant, maybe just a fluke. I'm wondering if 
> anyone
> else saw unusually higher-than-normal activity from Leo? This may be worth
> monitoring, since the Leonids have surprised us again and again. They've 
> been
> unpredictable for a few hundred years. :)
>
> Thanks,
> Anthony
> Florida, USA
>
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