------------------------------------------------------------------- THE ASTRONOMER Electronic Circular No 1712 2001 Nov 19 09.34UT Ed:Guy M Hurst, 16,Westminster Close, Kempshott Rise, Basingstoke, Hants, RG22 4PP,England.Telephone/FAX(01256)471074Int:+441256471074 INTERNET: GUY@TAHQ.DEMON.CO.UK GMH at AST.STAR.RL.AC.UK WORLD WIDE WEB http://www.theastronomer.org ------------------------------------------------------------------- LEONIDS 2001 Paul Yates relays a report from a TA subscriber, Peter Wlasuk located in Naples, Florida, USA: Estimated visual limiting magnitude 4.2 (light pollution!) At 04 15 EST we began seeing frequent bright meteors, and the rates increased from about 2-3 per minute to about 10 per min by 05 00EST. I took a little break then I returned to observing at 05 15 EST, by which time the rates had increased again to about 15 per minute. By 05 30 EST the rate peaked at 20 per minute, or ZHR = 1200. The "true" max ZHR would have been much higher, of course, for many reasons. There is no such thing as a ZHR for a single observer- a "true" ZHR requires at least a handful of observers who together yield full sky coverage. There is a formula for merging their individual counts and accounting for "overlaps" to obtain a cumulative ZHR. I could only see a narrow slice of sky from my back patio. The ZHR formula also takes into account variables like LM. My LM of 4.2 means that the ZHR would have been much more in a darker sky. This shower was the best opportunity for meteor photography in 35 years. Not like the 1966 storm, but no shower will ever equal that event? Still, I saw many very bright meteors- fireballs- and even a couple of bolides that far exceeded Jupiter in brightness. During my brief watch, I saw many bright meteors streak directly through Orion and Auriga, favourite targets for wide-angle astrophotos. Hazel McGee reports: I am delighted to report successful observation of the 2001 Leonids meteor storm from Koror, Palau, Micronesia on 2001 November 18/19, by a group of British observers including several members of the BAA Meteor Section. Cloudy conditions cleared briefly allowing us a good view of the peak. The results by the group are being collated and reduced now (13.30 local time Nov. 19) but it is clear that a substantial storm was seen, probably with ZHRs not matching Asher & McNaught's predictions however. My own preliminary results show 247 Leonids observed in the hour between 17.24 and 18.24 UT, in varying cloud conditions sometimes up to 50%. The storm seems to have shown a broad plateau rather than a sharp peak and rates were continuing high as dawn broke at 20.00 UT. The meteors were bright, but not comparable to the 1998 fireballs in brilliance. Tony Markham, Meteor Editor of The Astronomer, comments: >From the reports that I have seen via IMO-news so far, it seems to be the case that the North American peak occurred about 30 minutes later than predicted, with a ZHR of 1200-2000, depending on corrections for LM. This is the filament that we should see from the UK next year, as long as the 30 minute discrepancy does not cause the predicted time to be revised too much. So far the only e-mail that I've seen for the Far East peak, described it as "better than 1999", so it sounds like this peak was the stronger, as expected. Guy M Hurst