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

(meteorobs) Re: SW Florida 2003Nov20/21 Leonids gone



No aurora from Florida either.  A beautiful, pleasantly cool night with just
a few mosquitoes at my remote site -- sky LM 7.3 with M44 and M41 resolved
naked-eye.  But not very many meteors.  I observed 817 - 1027 UT  (317 - 527
EST) and saw only 22 meteors.  One Leonid, two Taurids, one Alpha
Monocerotid, and 18 sporadics.  Both regular hours had 10 meteors total.  It
seemed good at the start but then dropped way off.  Most of us saw few
Leonids this year, and I'm included among the unfortunates.  Nov 20/21 has
done much better in the past on Leonids.  In the 70's - early 80's I was
used to seeing a steady 4/hr Leonids for about 5 days after maximum.

The moon lit up my east quite a bit toward the end.  Very apparent maria on
the dark side, enhanced by the large crescent phase nearing perigee.

Much earlier I saw two bright casual Taurids.  A white  -2m  North Taurid at
home, then a green  -1m  Taurid (unclassifed) while driving out.  I did not
get within 20 degrees of the white one -- was a bit disappointed in not
getting the best look at a rare white meteor.  I have good color perception
in meteors ; no matter how poorly seen one is, I still get its color.  Even
if I don't see it at all, but just a flash on the ground, I know the color.

The report from Kim about 400 miles north of here astonished me.  He does
have twice my perception.  But why he saw Leonids and I did not, I am unable
to explain.  Too bad I did not go out the night before, but after seeing
next to nothing the night before that and deciding to skip a night, maybe I
guessed wrong.


Norman





Norman W. McLeod III
Staff Advisor
American Meteor Society

Fort Myers, Florida
nmcleod@peganet.com

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

Follow-Ups: