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(meteorobs) Leonoid Meteor Shower



Well the prediction of the meteor shower was right on the money, but
none of us listened to the fact that it was going to be a storm in
Europe and the middle East.  I drove well over 350 miles on the 17 Th.
chasing clear skies.  When I found them I checked into a motel to get
some shut eye.  Returning to the bluff above Canyon Cine Nombre (that's
its name!) in the Anza Rorrego Desert State Park, California at 10 PM
PST the sky was socked in with cloudy, so back to bed for two more hours
of shut eye. At 12 PM PST it was the same thing.  However when I
returned at 2:30 AM PST (10:30 UT) the sky was clear 5.5 LM or better.
Between then and 5 AM PST (13 UT) I counted 59 Leanoids and 8
sporatics.  The only bright one comparable to last years Leonods was the
first sporatic that I observed.  As I was driving away after 5 AM I saw
two more Leonoids that I didn't count and one of them was the brightest
of the evening,  the only first magnitude one.  So I guess you can say I
really saw 61 and I may have quit observing too soon, but I was tired
and the sky had been slowly deteriorating from 3 AM on, and plus
twilight was approaching.
    The night had been very windy and cold.  The longitude of the site
is roughly 116 degrees 10 minutes West Longitude and 32 degrees 42
minutes North Latitude by auto map.  Elevation about 1,000 feet.

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