(meteorobs) Leonids this morning.

[Alan Hilburn]

Alan from Wilmington N.C., initial report on the Leonids. Skies had a
hint of fog which put my LM to about 5th mag. Again like the Orionids I
view in the front yard with lots of reflected light coming from the
Wilmington area. Now, to my surprise, I was able to see five fireballs
of -2 and -3. One of the best of the night was a -3 mag that came from
the area of Taurus. With the best of my tracking, I believe it to be a
NTA. It was yellow/white with a 20* long path that took 3 seconds to
complete. It also had Terminal Flashes in several parts of it's path.
Sparking as it went along. Ya baby, that woke me up for sure.
I was out for two hours and was using one hour teff. This of course
would be 3:30 am EST to 5:30 am. An average of (9) Leo., an hour. With
this, I only had 1/4 of the sky covered ( NW to the NE ) with the Big
Dipper as my center. I was well pleased with the NTA's with a total of 3
and SPO's of total of 4. A very good night indeed. Will have complete
report out later and hope other fared as well. Now bring on the GEMS.
Alan
P.S. A little historian tidbit on this same morning 43 years ago, I had
the privilege to witness the beginning of the 1966 Strom, only five
miles to the South of were I am now.

Alan P. Hilburn Sr.