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(meteorobs) leonids from Kansas City
Hello all, I have enjoyed reading everyone's comments regarding the
Leonid shower so far. I was going to make my first attempt at a formal
report, but due to cloud cover (from a minimum of 500p to 98+%) I
decided that any data I would be able to provide would not be useful. I
would like to report that I saw a significant number of meteors. There
were many fireballs, and most meteors coming form the Leonid radiant had
persistent trains which lasted from a tenth of a second or so up to
almost 2 minutes in one case. Due to the cloud cover, I saw several
flashes behind the clouds, but was unable to determine the cause of
them. I observed on 11/18/01 from 1:00 AM central time to 1:30 and saw
a few earth grazers through holes in the clouds. I also observed from
3:20 AM to 4:00 AM. In that period, I saw the number of meteors
gradually rise. I also had a large hole in the clouds open up above me
and was able to see stars including the milky way for almost my entire
field of view. Just before giving up and going in to get some sleep, I
observed an average time between Leonid meteors of 8 seconds with
meteors coming anywhere from simultaneously up to a maximum separation
of 35 seconds. Clouds were moving back in at that time and by the time
I gave up and went inside, the cloud cover went to near 100%. I was
very excited to see so many meteors. I hope that most of you enjoyed
better sky conditions than I did. It was still quite a show despite
trying to find the holes in the clouds to be able to see the meteors.
Patrick Ziemer
Outside Kansas City, Missouri
Observing from my back yard, facing east (or where a hole appeared!)
39.368 N 93.966 W
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