[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

Re: (meteorobs) Moonlit Leonids



I think the overall point is, there's been an impression from some, and from
some writings on the web,  that the 2002 Leonids will be "ruined" by a full
moon.

I think nothing could be further from the truth.

I think this derives from the hard-core, out-there-a-zillion-days-a-year,
dedicated IMO members who spend a great deal of time watching faint showers,
plotting radiants, looking for rumored new showers with low ZHRs, trying to get
precise ZHRs, who normally won't even bother observing with a full moon, since
it makes all of these very advanced tasks quite difficult. (I don't mean to
belittle this efforts; on the contrary, I'm in awe of them...though I don't do
them myself. My point is that is simply skews your perspective a bit.)

The Leonids are hardly a faint shower, even if they're not fireball storming.
The moonlight Leonids of this year are, quite likely, going to be the most
impressive display any of us will see for the rest of our lifetimes, unless the
Draconids do something sometime or some brand new shower appears. The moon low
on the horizon, well away from the areas people will be watching, and easily
placed "behind" a tree or building on  the horizon, likely isn't going to be the
limiting factor for LM for the average "casual" observer such as myself who
won't be going to high-altitude remote locations...the limiting factor in LM is
still going to be neighborhood lighting, and haze/clouds, for most people.

I think the danger to be avoided is so much talk about the moon "ruining" the
display (when in actuality, all it may "ruin" is getting as accurate ZHR as
people would like, and will likely have no aesthetic effect at all) that casual
observers and the general public don't bother going out to watch it this time.

The archive and Web site for our list is at http://www.meteorobs.org
To stop getting all email from the 'meteorobs' lists, use our Webform:
http://www.meteorobs.org/subscribe.html

References: