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(meteorobs) 02 Leonids from St. Augustine - narrative report
Greetings to all,
No one was more surprised than I was when it turned out that N. Fla
was the place to be for the 02 Leonids! Given our track record of weather
in November over the last thirty years or so, it would have been a long shot
to expect this to say the least. We have now had two perfect years in a row
for them. I had checked out the water vapor satellite images on the
Hurricane Center's Tropical Storm prediction website during the day of the
18th and saw the driest air in the whole eastern hemisphere sitting right
over us! But there was still that darn lunar situation to contend with. At
the last minute, I decided to forgo the midnight "grazer window" and get
some sleep in anticipation of what was to come. I figured the moon would
take the edge off any grazers that came through and I had seen about a dozen
gorgeous ones last year, enough to hold me over. As it turned out I
probably would not have seen many anyway due to the intrinsic faintness of
the 02 Leonids. It's better to be lucky than good, any day I say!
I arose at 4 a.m. local and walked the 100 yards or so from my front
door down to the west bank of St. Augustine Inlet-the extent of my travels
this year! The moon was still hanging fairly high in the west. I set up my
observing chair and sleeping bag on the seawall, carefully positioning the
moon behind a couple of trees, out of sight, out of mind. It was clear to
the horizon looking north, east and south. Only a few trees to the west cut
down my view. I was about 500 yards or so north of the Castillo de San
Marcos National Monument, the 300 plus year old Spanish fort in St.
Augustine. Except for the lingering moonlight, conditions were picture
perfect. Humidity was remarkably low with minimal dew and no fog, a rarity
for this time of year in N. Florida. Again, good fortune seemed to be on my
side.
I began obs at 4:30 a.m. local, to relatively low activity. Typical
Leonid behavior: a burst of two or three in a minute, followed by five or
so minute lulls. Didn't take long to notice that a majority of the Ls were
hitting very faint and short-pathed, some +3s, but most were +4.
Occasionally, a nice +2 would hit leaving a beautiful softly-glowing, bluish
train against the sky in its wake. Nothing unusual here: textbook Leonids,
in fact.
It was fast approaching 5 a.m. local, the skies were improving as the
Moon headed for the horizon, but the Leonids were not. Still keeping the
same steady pace. No sign of any ramp up whatsoever. Some concern
beginning to grow here. Where are they? Could the storm predictions be
wrong, Heaven forbid? I decide to hang in there a while longer and see what
happens.
It's now 5:15 a.m. and maybe I'm beginning to catch a slight upswing in the
Leonids "beat". The two or three mini-bursts are maybe coming a little more
frequently now. But not by much! My concern is growing. They are still
faint, short and near the radiant, only an occasional + 1 or +2 with a train
keeps me going. Nothing even close to minus magnitudes, let alone a
fireball! Who could have figured this?
Just before 5:30 a.m., my inner voice is trying to get me to give it up.
Moon is gone, but twilight is soon to come. No storm in sight! What is
going on here? Nice Leonid shower in any other year, but not this one! My
refusal to quit keeps me in place.
Finally, just after 5:30 a.m., things start to happen. I begin to see
the beginning of a modest ramp-up! Still two or three Ls hitting in short
bursts, it's just that now the lulls are not so long in between! A minute or
two later and the lulls are gone! Two or three Ls EVERY minute! Now we're
getting someplace!
It's now pushing 5:40 a.m. and dawn is kicking up over in the east as
Venus smiles back at me. Leonid streaks are starting to flash everywhere at
about 5 a minute now. They are hitting at all points of the compass in
quick succession. I see L streaks leaving trains but no meteor that caused
them! A beautiful 0 mag hits in Leo Minor, its train hangs there, two more
off to northeast! Now we're talking.
At 5:45 a.m., I am startled by a human figure standing next to me! It is
my down the street neighbor! He has ventured out to see what is going on.
He says the local TV station is reporting that the storm is happening big
time. I think: maybe so, but not by much! It is his very first meteor
shower, he is blown away! It is my about two hundreth meteor shower and I
am soon to be blown away, too. Just after he shows up, the defining moment
of the morning occurs: a "squadron" of no less than eight identical +3
Leonids streak out the radiant going NW in Gemini. They are perfectly
simultaneous and about three degrees away from one another. I almost come
out of my observing chair! Within that five or so second bin I see no less
then 15 to 20 Leonids hitting everywhere on the sky. I get the "wheel spoke
effect" and visualize the Earth's movement in space. I can't believe this
is happening! All I can think of is the classic photos of the 1966 storm
that we have all seen. I never could grasp what 40 per second must have
looked like back then. Now I can! Even if my brief encounter with 8 to 10
per second still pales in comparison.
After this, the splendid Leonid "back beat" of one per second continues
on for a few more moments, then fades. It is obvious the peak has passed,
but my euphoria hadn't. And still hasn't. No real fireballs for me, only a
few popped in negative magnitudes and no long enduring trains, but I could
not be happier at the brief, stunning spectacle I have just seen. Regards,
Paul in FL
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