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(meteorobs) Nov 17/18 Leonid Watch from Central PA
A group of Astronomical Society of Harrisburg Members travelled to Wiser
State Forest near Halifax PA to observe this years Leonids. Each attendee
took individual counts, and they varied depending on the amount of breaks
taken :) .
I counted from about 10:30 to about 3:30, and had a 20 minute break around
12:00.
Total ones I counted, were about 275.
The most during 1 15 minute period (around 2:15 AM) was about 45 meteors.
There was a very bright meteor at exactly 12:00 AM EST, in the SW. Definitely
bright than Jupiter. There were several others throughout the night.
Others in the group had different counts, 175 from one, 320 from another, and
450 from a diehard meteor observer who took no breaks during the outing.
My count was 275 though, could have been higher, but without the break I
would have been dead when the peak came around :) .
I never expected this good of a shower with the moon up, I can only imagine
if it were down. I bet being at a dark sky location helped somewhat as well.
There were a lot of meteors travelling right along the ecliptic, several
coming right out from the moon, and several slamming Canis Major in the rear.
Total sporadics I counted throughout the night were about 6, and those are
not included in my 275 "Leonid Only" count.
The weather didn't look so promising in the beginning, and I had a lot of
people bail out on me. But since I organized the trip, I'm an optimist, and
even though it was totally clouded over when we left, I had faith, and
amazingly it cleared off for the whole time, and right when we left around
4:50 it clouded back over. All attendees then travelled to Cracker Barrel for
a very nice (and well deserved) breakfast.
Regards,
Ted A. Nichols II
Astronomical Society of Harrisburg
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