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(meteorobs) Cloud Town
Once again, Autumn has come to the Pacific Northwest, and sometimes it doesn't look like we'll ever see a clear night again. Looking forward to the fall showers of all sorts, I feel like reviewing my major-shower scorecard since I began dedicated meteor-watching with the 1993 Perseids:
Perseids: 6 maxima observed
Orionids: 1
Leonids: 0 <--- big fat zero
Geminids: 2
Quadrantids: 1
Lyrids: 1
And the 1998 Quadrantids don't count because I observed them from Arizona, which is hardly within driving distance of Portland, OR (and I still had clouds 50% of my observing period).
Of course, I can say that I've seen three Leonid storms in the past three years. 1995 was one of the wettest Novembers on record; in 1996 we had them coming down so fast that we couldn't count them (snowflakes, adding up to six inches on the evening of Nov. 17); and in 1997 I didn't escape by being in Texas as it was cold and windy and rainy on the Gulf.
Even the worst years throw in a good night now and then, so maybe we'll break the trend for the Leonids. I probably ought to be ready to drive, though.
Hey, the extended forecast has clear skies on tap for the Orionids, at least for Eastern Oregon. And we all know how accurate extended forecasts are...
Clear skies wherever you are,
--
Wes Stone
http://www.lclarkdot edu/~wstone/
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