Re: [APML] Leonids in the Mojave

[Aplanatic@aol.com]

Hi Chris,

> From reading everyone's posts on the 
> Leonids, I've noticed a big difference 
> in the ZHR reported.  Some say 1600/hr, 
> Dave says 1000/hr and some report over 2000/hr.

Linda and I set out two cots with two sleeping bags each.  We are at 5500 feet elevation and it got fairly cold by 4 in the morning.  :)

We faced the cots to the east and used a couple of pillows to prop our heads up for an effortless view of the radiant.  Every 10 minutes or so we would take a 6 minute count of the meteors.  At 2:00am PST the counts were around 35 to 50 meteors in a 6 minute interval.  At 2:30 am we counted 72 in 6 minutes, and at 3:00 we counted 84 in 6 minutes.  During the interval between 3:06 and 3:12 we saw 103 meteors.  Since we were only covering about 1/2 the sky, I would imagine that the ZHR peaked at close to 2000/hr.

The Zodiacal light was also fantastic.  At first I thought that I must be seeing the light from Laughin, NV, about 60 miles to the east.  It then dawned on me that I was observing the best display of the Gegenschein in my life.  It extended from the horizon through Leo, Cancer and Gemini.  All the way to the zenith.  As usual, the light from Laughlin was a very small dome extending a couple of degrees above the eastern horizon.

We got very lucky with the weather.  At 7 pm Saturday night the sky was completely overcast and I was seriously bummed.  I took a long nap and got up at midnight to perfectly clear skies and the "best show on earth."

I have several rolls of film to develop today, so we'll see if I caught a few of the bright ones.

Dave Rowe

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