From: Claude Schneider, Cambridge, UK Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1998 12:32:58 +0000 I thought you may be interested to hear of my observations of the Leonid meteor shower on November 16th/17th. I observed for one hour, from 12:45-1:45 GMT, from Cambridge University, UK. Observing from the roof of student accommodation in St. John's College gave a clear view of the whole sky, with light pollution being bright pink/orange up to about 20 degrees elevation in the north, and east. From 12:45 to 1:00, I saw 10 meteors, almost all very bright, about mag. -2 to -4. One notable fireball passed at 12:50, lasting about 3 full seconds, travelling from Auriga through Orion's Head - it lit up the sky and ground, flashed twice, near the end of it's duration, and as it finished, had a bright colour - greenish/purple, and burned with a smoke tail coming of the head - the smoke trail could still be seen clearly 10 minutes later! There was a lull from 1:00 until 1:15, and then about 15 more meteors in the next 15 minutes, with another, probably brighter fireball at 1:30, in almost the same place as the first one, similar colour, flashed at least twice - the penultimate flash before dying lit up the whole smoke tail and surrounding sky magnificently, and also lit the surrounding buildings with a bright white colour, distinguishable from street light colour from light pollution. I remained until 1:45, having seen a total of 45 meteors in that hour, with probably more less bright ones - if I think I saw one, but am not sure, I don't count it. None of the meteors I counted were below about mag. 4, but most were much brighter than Sirius. Most meteors passed from near the zenith, to the south west, although a few were seen nearer Leo (just rising on the easter horizon) and finishing in the north. I centred my gaze around Capella, feet facing East for most of the time, and then facing south for the last 15 minutes. Light pollution probably cut out many of the dimmer meteors, and the occasional meteor was probably missed just out of eyeshot. These Leonids are the first I've seen, although I think it was around this time last year, when I was in the desert in Israel, that I saw several meteors, mostly bright, with one fireball lasting 5 full seconds, crossing half the sky, and burning with a reddish orange colour, which till then was the best I've seen - I think these 2 fireballs were brighter, and definitely a different colour. I shall be observing again tonight, for the expected storm around 7-9pm GMT, although I have a prior engagement round the same time - I shall, if clear, get out and watch the skies. I hope this information has been of some interest to you, and that, along with other people's reports, much can be learned from this year's Leonids - looking forward to next year's STORM!!!!!