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Re: (meteorobs) 2002 really isn't that unfavorable moon-wise....
Joh, there are two other considerations that might make the 2002 Leonids
worthwhile. First, there's the fact that moonlight has pretty much the same
color distribution as sunlight. Thus, the moonlit sky will be blue just like
the daytime sky, only much fainter. Ergo, if we can just find a good color
filter, it might be possible to see some of the shower. Second, most image
intensifier tubes are much stronger in the red.
A cute anecdote really indicates the possibilities. For my system, I had
suspended a gridwork of wires with faint red LEDs about seven feet overhead.
These LEDs were directional, pointing at the observer, and so were quite
invisible to others. Late in the morning, after I had terminated formal
observing, one of the chaps showed me his image intensifier system. I
pointed it at Leo, and to my surprise saw four bright spots in a neat line.
They were the LEDs, but I couldn't recognize that, because they were
invisible to the naked eye. But through the image intensifier tube, they
were just as bright as Regulus. To add to my consternation, other observers
couldn't verify my observation because they were positioned such that the
LEDs were nowhere near Leo. Just one more trick that Fate played on me that
night.
Chris
----------
>From: "John Krempasky" <johnk@dmv.com>
>To: <meteorobs@atmob.org>
>Subject: (meteorobs) 2002 really isn't that unfavorable moon-wise....
>Date: Tue, Nov 20, 2001, 11:02 PM
>
> I just checked some programs that give moon position and, while it will be
full,
> at 1030UT on Nov. 19th on the East Coast of the US, the moon will BARELY be
> above the Western Horizon if I'm using the programs correctly...at my
location,
> the extreme Western horizon is blocked, anyway, and I generally am looking
south
> and east; and I was favorably impressed by what I saw of the Leonids in 2000
> despite them being "ruined" by the moon. Given some of the ZHR predictions
for
> 2002, I wonder if, in fact, for many people in the US the 2002 Leonids won't
be
> more impressive than 2001 Leonids?
>
> I think people are so used to "normal" showers with ZHRs at 100 and under and
> limited numbers of bright meteors that some of the articles and forecasts
> discussing the 2002 Leonids are making too much of the moon "ruining" them.
>
> Much depends on what the population of fireballs and bright meteors will be
but
> it seems it was higher than expected this year.
>
> John Krempasky
>
> 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
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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:
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