(meteorobs) Nov., 16/17 2015 Leonid/Taurid obs from North Florida - LEOs pushing 20/hour!

[Paul Jones]

Hello again meteor fans,

       Once again this morning, Mother Nature came to my rescue at the last
moment and allowed me two lovely hours of pre-dawn Leonid watching from the
Hastings, Florida potato field.  I got there a bit before 0300 EST and was
greeted by an overcast sky.  I decided to hang out and give it a few
minutes to clear up and in less than ten minutes all the clouds had
vanished!
        What was behind the clouds was astonishing!  One of the darkest,
sharpest, clearest night skies I've seen in quite awhile.  And they stayed
that way for exactly two hours before the clouds decided to return.  I was
saying my thank yous, I can assure you!
         Leonid activity was pretty much steady, slowly climbing during the
watch as the radiant did also and approached 20 an hour before the clouds
shut me down.   No fireballs of any flavor were seen, but there were a few
nice LEOs, a -1 South Taurid and a gorgeous member from each of the
November iota Draconids  (NID) and November Orionids (NOO) radiants.   All
told, I was very grateful indeed for the opportunity to observe at all!

Here's what I had:

Nov., 16/17 2015, Observer: Paul Jones, Location: Hastings, Florida (18
miles southwest of St. Augustine, Florida, Facing: south.

0300 - 0400 EST (0800 - 0900 UT), Teff: 1.0 hour, LM: 6.8, clear
11 LEO: 0, +1, +2 (2), +3 (4), +4 (3)
1 NTA: +2
1 STA: +3
1 NOO: +1
9 SPO: 0, +2 (2), +3 (2), +4 (3), +5
23 total meteors


0400 - 0500 EST (0900 -1000 UT) , Teff: 1.0 hour, LM: 6.8, clear
17 LEO: 0, +1 (2), +2 (3), +3 (2), +4 (5), +5 (4)
2 NTA: -1, +3
1 STA: +3
1 NID: 0
10 SPO: +1 (2), +2 (2), +3 (2), +4 (3), +5
31 total meteors

         It seemed strange to me that the two best meteors of the watch
were from the two minor radiants and neither one was a Leonid or a
Taurid! The NOO was a long, showy +1 in southern Orion and Lepus, while the
NID was even better, a zero mag almost earthgrazer that covered 40 degrees
of sky in Gemini and Orion and left a nice train.  The off-speed, medium
velocity of each meteor was clearly noticeable as opposed to either the
swift Leonids or the slow Taurids.
         Dare I should hope that my luck continues for one more morning?  I
am most interested in seeing where the Leonids go from here.  Do their
rates stay the same, rise even more or do they drop off again?  Although
they were quite evident this morning, I would hardly call them either
memorable or spectacular at this point.  They have definitely left some
room for improvement IMHO.  Inquiring minds want to know...;o).  Good luck
to all!

Clear skies, Paul J in North Florida
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.meteorobs.org/pipermail/meteorobs/attachments/20151117/33892e77/attachment.html