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Author
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Topic: LEONID Meteor Shower -- WOW !!!
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Wehaveliftoff
Member Posts: 2343
From:
Registered: Aug 2001
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posted 11-18-2001 06:52 AM
  
The Leonid Meteor Shower was THE best meteor
shower I've witnessed. I miss the great Arizona skies, but even in the middle of a NE city, the worst of viewing areas,I viewed over 125 per hour (4:30-6:30 EST.) VERY,VERY SWIFT, only a dozen fireballs,at the most though. Hey mates, how'd you fare? Australians, on the other side of the world,
should've had the best of opportunities.  |
tegwilym
Member Posts: 2331
From: Sturgeon Bay, WI
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 11-18-2001 03:39 PM
Totally awesome show over here in the NW corner of the US! I drove about an hour out of town up to Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascade mountains to get away from the Seattle lights and fog. There must have been about 10 or 15 a minute - and others behind us that we couldn't turn our heads fast enough to see!
I also took my new ETX90 telescope up to play with. WOW!! The Orion Nebula sure looks great when you get out of the city. I also looked at Jupiter and Saturn, but spend most of the time trying to figure out how to polar align the scope on the new tripod that I got last week. I haven't done that before, and had all kinds of trouble trying to get it set up using the Autostar controller. It kept pointing too far away from the star I was trying to calibrate it on. I finally gave up and went back to Alt-az mode on the computer and it worked fine. I have a bit more learning to do with this thing!
I also took my camera and tripod up and took a roll of 24 shots of the shower. I hope they turn out ok, I didn't have a shutter cable and had to hold the button down carefully. I'll post my results on the internet if something works.Pictures should be done soon, gotta run to the store now and see what I got!
Tom http://www.geocities.com/tegwilym2/collection |
Dan Lorraine
Member Posts: 373
From: Cranston, R.I.
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-18-2001 03:47 PM
Wow! Was it great! I've been watching the skies since 1969 and this is without a doubt the best I've ever seen! We saw many fireballs -- most of the brightest being seen between midnight and 3a.m. The brightest was approximately -15 magnitude and ended with a magnificent burst. Colors on the early fireballs were orange/red. It was amazing to me how 95% of the Leonids left a beautiful train (very greenish in color) ... we also saw quite a few spectacular Taurids as well. I was out with my astronomy group and we estimated a peak hourly rate of approximately 1000 meteors per hour (significantly better than the 500+/hr that we reported from New Mexico in 1999). Right before the sun rose they were shooting all over the place .... similar (in my mind) to the grand finale in a fireworks display. As an added bonus the zodical light in the early dawn hours was beautiful. I think the media did a very nice job of getting the public Psyched for this .... this was a true "meteor shower" viewed by many!!
Certainly a night to be remembered ....
How did you fare???
Best,
Dan[This message has been edited by Dan Lorraine (edited November 18, 2001).] |
Ben
Member Posts: 1896
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: May 2000
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posted 11-18-2001 04:13 PM
Not a blazing sky like 1966, but it sure was GREAT! Even for NYC! I calculated an average of 7 a minute in half the sky = 900 an hour over the city.
What I did not see a single one of was fireballs or bolides 
I elected not to take photos, so I cant wait to see Toms's!------------------
______ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
-Ben http://www.geocities.com/ovcolumbia/totaleclipse.html "'Time was invented to keep everything from happening at the same time.
Space was invented so that everything doesen't happen to you.' -Anonymous" |
Jacqueline
Member Posts: 344
From: UK
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 11-18-2001 05:20 PM
As usual it is cloudy here in the UK!! I haven't seen the Leonids for 3 years!!!!!!!!Jacqueline |
Dan Lorraine
Member Posts: 373
From: Cranston, R.I.
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-18-2001 05:52 PM
Ben,
Please tell me what it was like in 1966 ..... I am very curious!
TX,
Dan |
Ben
Member Posts: 1896
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: May 2000
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posted 11-18-2001 06:43 PM
Although I wasnt alive then, I was making a comparison From
http://www.floridatoday.com/news/space/stories/2001b/nov/spa111801b.htm "In 1966, observers couldn't count the shooting stars fast enough. Estimates ranged as high as 150,000 per hour. Astronomers expect another such shower in 2099. Next year Leonid watchers probably will be foiled by a full moon, which is expected to wash out the sky with its brightness. "
And from Astronomy.com:
"When conditions are just right, full-fledged Leonid storms can produce tens of thousands of meteors per hour for brief intervals. Witnesses to the memorable Leonid storm of 1833 reported that meteors fell like flakes during a snowstorm. Most recently, a Leonid storm occurred in 1999, producing several thousand meteors per hour over parts of Europe and the Middle East. But perhaps the most celebrated storm of recent memory took place over southwestern portions of the United States in 1966, where witnesses reported as many as 40 meteors per second for a stretch of about 30 minutes. "
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Dr. William R. Hanson
Member Posts: 150
From: Glens Falls, NY 12801
Registered: Sep 2000
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posted 11-18-2001 08:46 PM
Seems our local (Albany, NY) news media dropped the ball, saying the best viewing time was 4-6AM. I was busy writing, so didn't get out until 5, saw a few more than recent years, but nothing spectacular, nothing like the reports of others who were out here in the east from midnight on. UNlike Dan and Ben and some others I'm not really up on astronomy (managed stellar navigation when flying in the military, but just barely) so I rely on the media. This usually translates into the weatherman, which yields astronomy predictions that match their ones for the weather....you draw your own conclusions!Am looking forward to those pictures promissed to be posted. Glad so many of you were out at the right time and had such a fine time. Doc |
tegwilym
Member Posts: 2331
From: Sturgeon Bay, WI
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 11-18-2001 09:20 PM
I got my pictures, and Bartells didn't even charge me for them since it said "did not turn out" on the envelope. The prints looked really bad, and it was obvious that the person running the photo machine didn't know what he was looking at since it was really overexposed and some of the prints had 2 frames in them. I looked at the negatives and they seem to look ok, so I took them to a real photoshop to see if they could darken the sky and bring the stars out a little more. If I still had access to a darkroom, I could easily work this out myself!
I should get the prints back tomorrow. Hopefully something better comes out. I'll keep you posted!Tom http://www.geocities.com/tegwilym2/collection |
Ben
Member Posts: 1896
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: May 2000
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posted 11-18-2001 10:09 PM
Ooh Tom, a tip for the future: if you shoot out night shots, tell the lab not to cut the negatives. Or, shoot a few daytime shots on the roll before the night shots.Doc, LOL. And they say that the NE US has some of the hardest to predict weather in the world! |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-18-2001 11:14 PM
Doc, your local media was correct, at least based on initial national and international forecasts -- 4am to 6am ET was the peak of the storm. I first went out at around midnight and almost immediately spotted a few random streaks. Within a five-ten minute period, I spotted at least two large fireballs (bolides) -- one that burned bright yellow and another bright green. Both left visible trails that lasted for several seconds after the fireball had disappeared. From the roof of my apartment building, myself, a friend, and a few other tenants braved the cold between 4:30 and 6:00am to watch the peak of the fall. At best we saw approximately 20 streaks per minute, some several at a time. A cloud cover threatened to end the show, but it thankfully passed overhead rather quickly. Most of the streaks were spotted near Jupiter and Orion, but almost every part of the sky was fair game for a spotting. All in all, a very impressive show and one that we were glad we didn't miss. My friend, Jeff Masiello, a first time astrophotographer tried his hand at capturing the show on film. Unfortunately, it seemed whatever patch of sky he chose to focus his camera was the exact opposite of where the fall would center. We wait anxiously to see what, if anything he caught. After the show was over, Jeff and I headed to IHOP to get some breakfast before crashing. When we arrived at around 6:45, the restaurant was packed with a line waiting for tables that stretched nearly out the door! We didn't really realize what it was until we arrived at another 24 hour restaurant, a diner, and found the same thing. It was all the Leonid watchers! Very cool to see. The manager of the diner asked one of the departing guests what had caused the early morning rush. When he found out it was a meteor shower, he asked when this might happen again. The reply "100 years from now" (which is partially correct). His reply: "I'll be closed that day!" |
Dan Lorraine
Member Posts: 373
From: Cranston, R.I.
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-19-2001 06:58 AM
Thanks Ben .... I knew '66 was good but didn't remember the details. The one thing I did remember was Dennis Milan of Sky & Telescope's famous photo with 40+ meteors in one frame (with two of them being stationary ones).
Best,
Dan |
Dan Lorraine
Member Posts: 373
From: Cranston, R.I.
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-19-2001 07:44 AM
Tom,
You're exactly right ... the average photo processor has no clue on how to develop astrophotos .... the tendency is to overexpose them and not to properly color correct. If you have good density on your negs, you will be able to get good photos. If the lab where your negatives are at now are not able to produce satisfactory prints, tell them to try correcting as follows:
> 2 buttons extra density
> 1 button blue
> 1 button cyan
This should fix the exposure and color correction problem. Good luck.
Dan |
WAWalsh
Member Posts: 809
From: Cortlandt Manor, NY
Registered: May 2000
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posted 11-19-2001 08:47 AM
Fear I suffered the same fate as Doc., but in Westchester County. Alarm went off at 4 a.m. and went outside and saw a number immediately. Had the kids out by 4:45 a.m. and they enjoyed the show, but I do not believe we had more than 8 sightings in any given minute, and that was rare. Only three fireballs lit up the sky during the 90 minutes or so I had the kids outside. It was not quite the 3900 in an hour that NASA-Ames predicted (as I recall from their site), but we did enjoy the skywatching. |
NC Apollo Fan
Member Posts: 261
From: Belmont, NC USA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 11-19-2001 03:26 PM
I know very little about stargazing (in the night sky I can point out Orion, the moon, and any planes that happen to pass by - other than that, forget it) but was very excited about the prospect of seeing the meteor shower.I am on paternity leave for a few weeks right now, and with a two-week old daughter at home I was still up around 4:00 AM. I switched out with my wife and went outside. Leaning up against the Honda and wearing my boxers and a pullover I counted 42 within 25 minutes. Not bad considering I had some glare from the streetlamps in our neighborhood. Then I decided that I needed to get a few hours rest before the 2-year-old woke up! I really enjoyed it. |
tegwilym
Member Posts: 2331
From: Sturgeon Bay, WI
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 11-19-2001 08:55 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Dan Lorraine:
tell them to try correcting as follows:
> 2 buttons extra density
> 1 button blue
> 1 button cyan
This should fix the exposure and color correction problem. Good luck.
Dan
Dan and Ben,
Thanks for the advice! Yeah, I think they may have cut some of the frames in half, so the daylight photo makes good sense. I'll go down the to photo shop in a little while and see what they came up with. The girl working there was familiar with what I was asking since she said she has done stuff like that before. I'll let you know what happens! Tom http://www.geocities.com/tegwilym2/collection
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Ben
Member Posts: 1896
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: May 2000
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posted 11-19-2001 10:19 PM
Tell me about it. More than once have my neagatives been sliced down the middle. Remember the Jan 20, 2000 Lunar eclipse? Well, taped together, from a distance, its not so bad.The problem is that there are no noticable shots (daytime, in otherwords), the machine doesnt register as to where it should start printing and where to cut the negatives. Sometimes I still forget to shoot day shots...so I always enclose a note now saying not to cut the negs. [This message has been edited by Ben (edited November 19, 2001).] |
Rodina
Member Posts: 836
From: Lafayette, CA
Registered: Oct 2001
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posted 11-19-2001 11:18 PM
Out here in the San Francisco Bay Area, the show was most excellent. It had been cloudy all day, so it cleared up about 7 PM, I was very excited about that. I drove to northwest Contra Costa County (Bear Creek Road for any locals), and was treated to an excellent show. At it's apparent peak, around 2:40 AM Pacific, I estimate that over a 10 minute period, I counted about 75 very bright ones (two fireballs), and lots of smaller ones, and I'm sure I missed quite a few as well. So perhaps a peak of 1000/hr or so. Sustained it was at least about 500/hr. Only drawback was that a number of people didn't have a damned clue to turn off their headlights as they approached the observation area... I should have expected that and planned around it... ah well. One thing that was very cool was right after I saw about six or seven in about three seconds, I looked around and saw a very ordinary (background) meteor, so that reminded me of just how special this was. Best,
-Andrew
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tegwilym
Member Posts: 2331
From: Sturgeon Bay, WI
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 11-19-2001 11:27 PM
I got my pictures back. They look much better now, but I can't really see any meteors in them. Maybe somthing that is kind of faint, but nothing exciting. I did get some shots of Orion that are ok, but nothing much else.
I should have gone to a photo store for some faster film. I was using 400 ASA which was the fastest I could find at Safeway when I was buying film for the camera, batteries for the telescope and flashlight. Oh well, I'll just catch the next good show in 2099!
One of my next projects is to try to hook a camera to my ETX 90 scope and or piggyback it on top for tracked photos.Tom http://www.geocities.com/tegwilym2/collection |
collshubby
Member Posts: 591
From: Madisonville, Louisiana
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-20-2001 12:32 AM
In Sydney, Australia, the weather was miserable. It has been cold and rainy since Saturday. Even though I knew it would be hopeless, I got up anyway. After all, it wouldn't hurt to take a little peak, right? Well, for about three minutes I got a break in the clouds, and I saw one good meteor. Only one, but it was beautiful. After that, the wind and rain quickly returned, and I returned to my warm bed!------------------
Brian Peter
astronautbrian@space.com
http://members.tripod.com/~brian_space/index.html |
Jacqueline
Member Posts: 344
From: UK
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 11-20-2001 04:42 AM
Well I'm glad most of you had a good show with the meteor shower. As I said earlier it was cloudy here in Wales, UK. We had had cold crisp beautiful evenings/nights right up to the night before the maximum of the meteor shower - then as usual if any astronomical event is going to take place, the weather turns bad. It is so predictable that I will not get to see anything. Remember the Exclipse of August 1999? Well I travelled down to Southern England to see the total solar eclipse. I travelled down the day before in boiling hot sunshine. The day of the eclipse was overcast so didn't see a thing! I travelled back home the next day in boiling hot sunshine!!!!! Story of my life!!I haven't seen the Perseids either since 1998. Who would live in this country!!?? Jacqueline |
Philip
Member Posts: 5952
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted 11-20-2001 06:02 AM
Well Jacqueline ... as the British military always say ... NO raining NO training ...
Best regards,
Philip |
collectSPACE Admin
Administrator Posts: 627
From: Houston, TX, USA
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 11-20-2001 07:11 AM
Dan Lorraine was kind enough to share some of the photographs he took of the Leonids! Please feel free to post your own photos (only if you took them please or you have permission of the photographer) or write contact@collectspace.com for assistance adding them to this board).     |
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