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Re: (meteorobs) Leonids 2001 -- Some final thoughts
Hi Joe,
How east are you? I'm in Tucson...how does Tucson look to you?
I am pretty jazzed - I have a color CCD camera that I put a f2.8 lens on.
With that, I get a field of about 7 degrees. It has a integrating mode that
allows me to see stars down to about 7.0, takes a "snapshot" every second.
I should be able to record something!
Mark
At 12:05 AM 11/16/01 -0500, you wrote:
>Well . . . I've arrived at my observing site in southeast
>Arizona. Fortunately, a strong, upper-level low pressure system is
>predicted to stay just off to my east, allowing generally clear skies for
>these next few nights.
>
>As for Leonid activity in 2001, there was a front-page article on the
>Leonids in one of the Arizona papers this morning, with a reference to me
>as Sky & Telescope's "Leonid handicapper." It is interesting to me that
>virtually all the news media (Paul Harvey, the AP, etc . . . ) have
>latched on to Peter Jenniskens prediction of 4200/hr. for the North
>American Leonid peak rate ("Would you like to see 70 meteors per
>minute?"), but have said little about the other (lower) forecasts.
>
>So far as I'm concerned, I think the North American peak will end up
>somewhere in the 1000-1500/hr. range. Of course, I wouldn't mind if Dr.
>Jenniskens is correct with his 4200/hr. forecast, but I think that
>1000-1500/hr. is a more likely scenario. In addition, with the
>7-revolution trail, I would also expect that there will be larger
>particles involved (as opposed to, say, the "fresher" 3-rev. trail
>experienced over Europe in 1999). So, while not as rich in overall
>numbers as 1999, I would guess that there will be somewhat brighter
>meteors observed overall.
>
>Well . . . I guess we'll all know the final outcome in a few days. Clear
>skies and good luck to everyone!
>
>-- joe rao
>The archive and Web site for our list is at http://www.meteorobs.org
>If you are interested in complete links on the upcoming LEONIDS, see:
>http://www.meteorobs.org/storms.html
>To stop getting email from the 'meteorobs' list, use the Web form at:
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The archive and Web site for our list is at http://www.meteorobs.org
If you are interested in complete links on the upcoming LEONIDS, see:
http://www.meteorobs.org/storms.html
To stop getting email from the 'meteorobs' list, use the Web form at:
http://www.meteorobs.org/subscribe.html
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