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(meteorobs) 11/16 Leonids at Poplar Springs

Hello folks,

The forward-scatter system here in Florida functioned fine throughout the
night, as i monitored its activity and cat-napped during the lulls.  The
current data diskette is still in the process of being filled, so I do not
have direct access to the data stream.  I can, however, give an anecdotal
account of how the night's Leonid activity proceeded at this station.

*  The Leonid activity for 11/16 of this year was better than for 11/16 of
last year.  

Last night's activity was not as good as for 11/17 of last year, nor was
the concentration of "bright" overdense events evident.  The population
seemed much more evenly distributed last night.

*  Several extremely fast meteor head-echoes were heard between about
2400-0300 LT (0600-0900 UT), wich are indicative of Leonids during radiant
rise on this system -- based upon past experience.  Head-echoes do not
appear to be as  prevalent during radiant set due to the different
transmitter and geometry.

* A local maxima of Leonid activity was observed about 0300-0500 LT
(0900-1100 UT), which was as expected.  After this point the Leonid
activity began to drop off as the radiant rose higher and into less
favorable geometry, while the sporadic rate continued to climb.  

The sporadic rate generally peaks about 0600-0800 LT (1200-1400 UT) for
this system.

A second local maxima of Leonid activity is expected as the radiant sets,
probably about 0800-1000 LT (1400-1600 UT).

*  Leonid activity during the first peak was easily noticeable,  but was
probably not much more than double the usual sporadic rate at that time of
the morning.  Nothing spectacular, but not bad, either.

I will continue to watch the activity until radiant set around noon (LT)
and then catch a bit of sleep.  I look forward to what tonight might bring!

Take care,

     Jim


James Richardson
Graceville, Florida
richardson@digitalexp.com

Operations Manager / Radiometeor Project Coordinator
American Meteor Society (AMS)
http://www.serve.com/meteors/
References: