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(meteorobs) November 16/17 Summary, GRALE (the NON-garbled version!)




Doh! Lack of sleep has my fingers fumbling... Sorry! Here's the full message:

We had a short scare last night, as low snowy-looking clouds rolled in just 
after twilight. But by 23:45 EST, as the Leonid radiant was rising, all clouds 
disappeared and the clear moonlight bathed our darkened observing site!

Ambient temperature for the night dropped from 21oF to 16oF, in a light 
variable wind. Other hearty souls present for all or part of the '97 Boston 
Leonid Watch included Steve Mock, John Reed, Mike Aramini, and Karen Simmons. 
No skunks were in evidence, and the moonlight glittering on fallen snow was 
enchanting.

--

I observed for Teff ~= 4.5 between 05:05 and 10:45 UT, in skies with LM 5.9 to 
6.0, in spite of a bright moon. Even accounting for moonlight, general LEO 
rates were decidedly NOT enhanced, with only 58 observed. However, the Sickle 
did produce it's "usual" enhanced fireball rates, slightly exceeding even the 
fine bright-meteor show of last year.

LEO rates began quietly and gradually rose with the radiant - till about 07UT, 
when they seemed to suddenly drop off, particularly in fainter magnitudes. 
Activity increased again in the hour before dawn, with a burst of fireballs in 
the few twilit minutes after I ended my session. Raw counts for the whole night 
(to be broken out later):

Site: MIT Haystack Observatory, Westford, MA (71.5W, 42.6N, 146m)
               Teff   DCV     F    LEO  NTA  STA  AMO  XOR  Spor
    0505-1045  4.5    09h+60  1.0  58   2    3    3    0    20
Nine fireballs seen during session, while 9 to 12 other meteors
magnitudes 0 to -2.5 were seen. Approximately 40% of all meteors
had trains. Brightest meteor of the night was a yellow-oranage -3,
exploding to -6 in a single flash 3o from its fainter terminus.

A formal report will follow - tonight if skies are cloudy, or tomorrow if the 
weatherman is right and skies miraculously CLEAR AGAIN!

Lew, basking in my first major-shower maximum since LAST Leonids...