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

[Robert Lunsford]

Paul and All,

I would expect the Leonids to be slightly better tomorrow morning. Your rates are exceeding what is expected due to the fact that you are able to catch many faint members of the stream. If your skies tomorrow still allow you to see lots of magnitude +4 and +5's I would expect you to exceed 20 Leonids per hour.

Good Luck!

Robert Lunsford

---- Paul Jones <jonesp0854 at gmail.com> wrote: 
> 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