From: Trond Erik Hillestad, Norway
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1998 09:23:05 +0100


A first impression from the night 17-18.

2125-2305 UT: 21 Leonids and 29 Sporadics (lm about 5.7).
0440-0550 UT: 96 Leonids and 18 Sporadics (lm about 6.2,
decreasing to about 5.3 during the last 20 minutes - dawn).

As for most non-Asians, I was desperate to observe as early as possible.
>From my site at 59.7 N and 9.7 E, the radiant rises sometime around
20.45 UT (assuming zenith attraction 0.7 and a diameter of 0.0 degrees).
I arrived at the site at about 2100 UT, and saw occasional meteors
from the very beginning.

My impression is that the uncorrected rate was fairly constant
during the first period. Great fun with the radiant hovering above
the horizon! The ZHR may have been way up in the hundreds. Long
meteors shooting up from the northeast horizon, two were about 60
degrees long, and one was nearly 80. The brightest -2.

The second period had "ordinary" radiant height of about 50 degrees
and Leo to the south. A couple of -3's and two -5's. No smoke train
longer than 4 seconds (no luck with those at 20 minutes this time).

I've not yet analysed the magnitudes. The number of bright ones was
not too impressive for the first period (r=2.3-2.5?), while things
were better (though not exceptional) in the second period (r=1.8-2.0?).