Leonid Meteor Shower

[Kevin]

In case anyone else is interested, the Leonid Meteor Shower will peak for viewing in the US just before 2 am eastern Friday morning.  Based on predictions I've seen, this year's won't be as memorable as years past, but you can expect to see around 10 meteors per hour.  For those forum members in Europe, you get the best view of the shower.  At about 2200 UTC you'll get about 65 meteors per hour.

If anyone else does watch, let me know what you see.  The weather looks pretty sketchy around here tomorrow night, but I'm hoping for the best.

 

[acole]

How'd your Leonid viewing turn out, Kevin?  In my neck of the woods (CA) they were spectacular in 2002--I'd rank them right up there with the 1991 total solar eclipse in terms of subjective significance.  The 2003 show was mediocre by comparison with only a few notable 'bursts', and I forgot to observe this year's shower (though I did catch the recent total lunar eclipse).

 

[Kevin]

It was a total bust here - the ceiling was at about 1200 feet, fog, drizzle, the works. Oh well, nature can be cruel sometimes. I believe we get the Leonids again in 2006, and then we won't see them again until 2034.

I missed out on 2002; the clouds rolled in about halfway through when things were just warming up. The 2003 shower was mediocre for me. Neither compared to the great storm of 2001. It was one of the greatest sights of my life - thousands of meteors streaking across the sky every hour. Truly a once in a lifetime experience.

FYI - the Geminids (usually a dependable show) are set to peak on the 13/14th. Since you're in CA, hopefully you won't have to contend with much of a chill if you decide to watch.

 

[acole]

Sorry the weather didn't cooperate for you.  I must be skipping over a year in my Leonid recollections; I think we're both talking about the 2001 event with the >1000/hr rates.  It was like nothing I'd ever seen, either, and I'd gone along gamely on quite a number of meteor-watching events prior to that.  (The salient feature of those typically involved our getting very drunk to numb the cold.)  

Whichever year it was, I remember being very obsessive about finding the best spot in the [SF Peninsula] hills to observe the 'radiant'--and then having a laugh later on as huge colored fireballs filled the sky in every direction.

I'll make a note to remind myself to catch the Geminids in a couple of weeks...thanks.