[AZ-Observing] Re: The Leonids from Vekol Road
- From: "Jack Jones" <spicastar@xxxxxxx>
- To: "SAC AZ List" <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 10:58:44 -0700
We saw this at Vekol at 10:26 pm. It was a beautiful horizon-to-horizon skimmer
just like the two skimmers that flew all the way across the sky one after the
other at midnight in 1999 to herald the start of that shower, and got
everyone's adrenaline up. I was amazed one showed so early and was expecting
more toward midnight but none showed. There were several half-sky fireballs by
then though, so I'm not complaining! Not as many fireballs as in 99 but many
more meteors, peaking between 3 and 4 am. This is an excellent shower if not a
storm. Our peak count was 1387, but that was an all-sky count. A single
observer ZHR count would be under 1000. Our hourly totals either side of peak
beat our 99 hourly peak total!
I'm so glad the sky cleared by midnight, we could have missed everything.
Everyone was quite happy with what we were dealt for AZ, and talk of a lynch
mob for me by the out-of-staters was soon forgotten. We had no white light
incidents amid several comings and goings. Thanks to those who guided people
in! We had a caravan of five arriving with lights off at 2 am that left their
cars parked out along the road. Thank you! Education equals consideration.
We saw the sky flashing violently to the north at about 6 am but the space junk
or whatever-it-was was behind a low streak of cloud. Saw comet WM1 LINEAR with
a bright nucleus and oval halo. Jennifer Keller got interviewed by John Stanley
of the AZ Republic and the article is in today's paper.
Jack Jones
President - SAC
Phoenix AZ
We all saw this one at TIMPA, it covered at least 160 degrees and
appeared to dissapear over the western horizon. Nothing else all night
had a track like that. A Lenonid earthgrazer most likely, I understand
that if the radiant is too low their angle is so low that they don't
really penetrate the atmosphere, but skip, if they survive. The lenght
of the event allowed everyone to see it, not as bright as some of the
later stuff, but amazing for its track. It was the talk of the evening
until the main event started, even in the morning it was still mentioned
with amazement.
Andrew
> But I have to say that the best one I witnessed was one that streaked almost
> overhead from east to west about 10:30. This may be the one that Jim
> Cassidy saw from Vekol, and maybe even the one Bill Ferris saw way up north.
> Absolutely unbelievable. It just kept going, and going, for around ten
> seconds. It had a dramatic and long tail too. I caught it out of the
> corner of my eye when it was a little east of overhead, and it seemed to go
> to about 15 degrees of the western horizon before finally fading. Longest
> I've ever seen. I sure am glad I started watching before midnight. Even
> the non-enthusiasts I was camping with let out a holler over this one. Did
> anyone else see this amazing meteor?
> Kevin Bays
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