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(meteorobs) Re: Leonid prospects in Florida

The chance of a clear Leonid max night from the lower west coast of Florida
is over 60%.  Better not to be on the east coast as ocean clouds frequently
come ashore -- they tend to dissipate over land and are much less numerous
after crossing a hundred miles of land to the west side.  I never saw the
Leonids from Miami for that very reason.  The odds are fairly good from
here.  The Keys are vulnerable to the same problem as the east coast.
If there is a high located nearby the clouds will be suppressed for all sites.

Last year I wasn't fully fortunate.  The night before max, and the two
nights after max, were all clear.  The max night itself turned up mostly
cloudy but with some brief large breaks.  Even so, I saw over 250 Leonids in
mostly cloudy skies.

The past week has been clear, and all wasted due to the moon.  The dry
season seems to have arrived, but it could get an interruption if
late-season Katrina comes up here from the Caribbean.  Better now than
around Nov 15-18.


Lew wrote:

>BTW, just to mention: IMO's published activity period for the Leonids
>actually runs from Nov 14 all the way to Nov 21!

I generally expect to see the first Leonid during the last week of October.
For a couple of weeks no more than 2 or 3 per night, then slowly increasing
the second week of November.  On 1979 Nov 22 I saw a blue  -12m  Leonid
fireball with 10-minute train, the first meteor of my life that bright.  A
few stragglers might make it to Nov 25.


Lew wrote :

>This item was VERY interesting (and on-topic)! Was anyone on our list
>aware of Dr. Drummond's research - or of this amateur observer Kevin
>McKeown? Or for that matter that Dave Crawford (of IDA fame) ...

I met Jack Drummond in 1983 May while he was in Tucson.  He had produced a
list of possible radiants from earth-orbit-approaching comets and asteroids
about that time.


Bob wrote to Dave :
>
>I'm surprised that you have not been able to see the Andromeda Galaxy
>with all of these transparent skies we have had lately. My LM ... 5.5.

I saw the galaxy overhead a few nights ago with the moon just past full.  My
limit at the time was 5.0.


A nameless contributor wrote the following :

>First, regarding the Iridium 29 sighting, I have photographed several
>Iridiums and observed many more. I have yet to see an "orange" one. Is this
>effect common?

Same here.  Every one of them has been pure white to me, and I have
excellent color perception.  Even the  -8m Iridium flash seen at 930AM
nearly overhead last February, broad daylight needless to say, was straight
white.  It was an eighth-degree white fireball that moved about 3 degrees in
2 seconds ; I lost it below  -4m.

Norman

Norman W. McLeod III
Staff Advisor
American Meteor Society

Fort Myers, Florida
nmcleod@peganet.com

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