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(meteorobs) Daylight Leonid Fireballs
Even though the orientation of the Earth does not favor large numbers of western
USA meteors, and the time window is a little before the earth plunges thru the
plane of Comet Temple/Tuttle, I think it would be worth the West Coasters
looking for daylight activity as Bob suggests.
The Leonid storm of 1966 included a lot of very bright fireballs at its peak.
Our team was observing through a 40 degree hole in the clouds that night, and at
least several times a minute a bolide appeared so bright that it lit up the
ground through the overcast, like summer lightning. The ones visible thru the
hole rivaled the full moon in brightness.
I have not tried to observe meteors during the daylight, are there any special
tricks or equipment that enhance detection? What about medium power wide field
binocs fitted with polarizing filters to increase contrast?
Kevin Wells
Bob Lunsford wrote:,
>I have been waiting for someone to mention this as I have planned to
>watch for daylight activity all along (probably with an LM near -3). The
>Leonid radiant sets for us in California near 21:00 Universal Time which
>is 1PM PST. You would most likely see any daylight activity between 10AM
>and noon which is 18 to 20 UT.
>If you have any hopes of seeing any activity on the evening of the 17th
>I would not hold my breath. Even if it is totally dark by 5:30 PM the
>radiant (source of the meteors) will not rise for another 6 hours
>therefore no activity will likely be seen during the evening hours.
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