[APML] Leonids in Montreal

[George Anderson <georgea@cam.org>]

At 3:15 local the sky was clear enough to actually make out some stars,
I headed off to my pseudo dark site. A very large band of cirrus could
be seen moving in from the north-west, after 30 minutes of sparse and
random activity I packed up and headed back home and set a tripod up in
the driveway (Polaris was blinking in and out of view so rough polar
aligning the mount was out) The activity picked up around 5:40 and I
started shooting with the 28mm pointed SE where the bulk of the activity
was. Out of 24 frames I had five frames that showed Leonids through the
cirrus and moonlight.
As I was opening the camera back at 5:55 to change film one leonid
flashed bright enough to cast a shadow on the ground. OK, someone
upstairs doesn't like me tonight. It was the grande finale like in fire
works, the rate dropped from one every 30 seconds or so to one every
five minutes. Gave up and went inside for a hot cup of tea while I
waited for my 22 month old son to let me know that he wanted up.
Throughout the night I could see the clouds being backlit by fainter
meteors, the trail on the best one I captured is less than 1/4 of what
was visible to the eye.

George Anderson
Montreal Canada

Clear skies and good health

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