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Re: (meteorobs) Radio Leonids - North America
On Mon, 29 October 2001, Thomas Ashcraft wrote:
Are there any tips on daylight detection of Leonid fireballs?
> For example : would you look right at the radiant? Maybe there would be a
> hot spot there ?
I've been pulling together a page on daylight Leonids for my astronomy club. I don't know that there are any well-known procedures, but I'd hazard an educated guess that the radiant wouldn't be a good field center, just as with nighttime observing. Foreshortened meteors near the radiant would be easier to miss, although trains might endure longer. The zenith would also be a poor center.
Since (from a Pacific Northwest perspective) the Sun will be in the southeast, I'd tend to want to look northwest, with a field center north of and slightly above the Leonid radiant. Also, I'd be sure to block the Sun behind a building or other obstruction.
What about the polarization zone (90 degrees from the Sun)? Would a daylight fireball or resulting train be more visible in this area?
There probably WILL be a few bright fireballs, accessible to daylight observers. I believe someone mentioned several such events observed from Japan in 1999, even though that storm was notably deficient in bright meteors.
(Of course, for visual observing day or night, it has to be clear.)
--
Wes Stone
Chiloquin, OR
http://skytour.homestead.com
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