International Leonid Watch
homepage
These pages are an international podium for amateur and professionalastronomers, a bulletin board dedicated to the Leonid meteors. Contributions are from our mailbox and from postings at the popular mailing lists:
Several maxima were observed during the 2000 encounter with the Leonid shower,
each of which can be identified with the passages of individual dust trails of comet
55P/Tempel-Tuttle. This result confirms the meteor models that predict strong activity in
2001 and 2002.
Check also: Leonid MAC - campaign reports
NORTH AMERICA:
Florida,
Pennsylvania,
California,
New Jersey,
Florida 2,
Hawaii,
Washington,
Maryland,
Virginia,
Texas,
Connecticut,
New Mexico,
California 2,
Illinois,
Louisiana
B.C. Canada,
Halifax, Canada,
Ottawa, Canada
SOUTH & MIDDLE AMERICA:
Brasil,
Costa Rica,
Brasil 2
EUROPE:
Germany (radar+lidar),
Czech Republic
France,U.K.,
Portugal,
Netherlands (radio MS),
Netherlands, Portugal 2,
France, Norway,
U.K. 2, Netherlands 2,
Malta, Canary Islands,
Croatia,Romania,
Portugal 3
MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA:
Jordan, Turkey,
South Africa, Israel,
Israel 2
ASIA:
Japan,
China,India,
India 2, Singapore
AUSTRALIA:
Australia
OVERVIEW:
IMO (Marc Gyssens),
Left: Michael Boschat in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, obtained this very nice Leonid picture in
a remarkable part of the sky on November 17/18, 2000 at 0850 UT. Other pictures:
check NASA HQ's
Near-Live Leonid Watching System.
(<<)
NASA/HQ reports: "The Leonids continued to be the top story.
40 stations carried Leonids images and discussed NASA research on 11/18/99.
Congratulations to Ames and Marshall for their fine work."
The figure left shows Leonid counts by Koen Miskotte of the Dutch Meteor Society . He participated in
the ground campaign in support of Leonid MAC that was organised by DMS in Spain
and Portugal. Three two-station networks were set up.
Other results
are reported here , which also lists results from the Leonid MAC related ground-based campaign in California, where
a two-station photographic network was established.
Quote: "Wow....I think we are all green with envy at the spectacular show you saw.
Congratulations on some GREAT observing - Jeremy."
MIDDLE EAST:
Jordan,
Israel,
Jordan,
Iran
EUROPE:
Valencia, Spain,
Spain (south),
Germany,
Danmark,
IMO,
Malaga, Spain ,
Calar Alto, Spain,
La Palma (radio),
Gran Canaria,
Netherlands
Portugal,
Sicily, Italy,
Spain,
Barcelona, Spain,
Italy,
Estonia,
Finland,
UK
Photo: More than 70 Leonid meteors in a 10 min. exposure by
Eyad Mustafa from
the Al Azraq desert camp in Jordan around maximum time of the 1999 Leonid storm.
AFRICA:
South Africa
USA/CANADA:
Florida,
Georgia,
South Carolina,
Maryland,
North Central MS,
New Jersey,
Virginia,
West Virginia,
Wisconsin,
North Carolina,
New Mexico (Starfire Optical Range),
Arizona,
California,
Oregon,
Ontario, Canada
SOUTH AMERICA:
Brasil
PACIFIC:
Honolulu, Hawaii
Kwajalein
ASIA:
China (2nd peak),
Japan (NMS),
Taipei, Taiwan,
Japan (radio),
Singapore
AUSTRALIA:
Melbourne,
Snowy Mountains
OTHER FIRST REPORTS:
IMAGES OF LEONID SHOWER
Images of the 1999 Leonid storm taken during the Leonid Multi-Instrument
Aircraft Campaign are found
here. Other images are found at the
Near-live Leonid
Watching System.
(<<)
Figure left: Routine 4-hour exposure all-sky picture from the
European Fireball Network
station in Modra, Slovakia,
showing numerous Leonid fireballs. The image was guided on the stars
and taken on16/17 Nov 1998 between 23:30:00 and 3:37:10
UT. On the negative are counted 156 meteors brighter than -2 mag.
Unfortunately, it was clouded
at Ondrejov Observatory and other EN stations, reports Jiri Borovicka who participated
in Leonid MAC. Photo courtesy:
Tomas Paulech & Juraj Toth, Astronomical Institute of the
Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of the
Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia - Astronomical observatory at Modra -
and EN leader Pavel Spurny, Ondrejov Observatory.
For first reports from the 1998 airborne mission see here
Reports from America's:
Nov. 15/16: Florida,
California.
Reports from Asia/Australia:
Nov. 16/17:Manilla, Phillipines,
South Korea,
Russia,
Thailand.
General:
China,
Perth in clouds,
east coast.
Reports from Europe:
Nov. 16/17:
From aircraft over atlantic,
U.K. (no faint meteors!),
U.K.,
U.K.,
Netherlands (radio),
Portugal,
Canary Islands, Spain,
U.K.,
Belgium,
La Palma, Canary Islands (1000-2000/hr!, but...),
Turkey,
Slovenia?.
Reports from America's:
Nov. 16/17: New Mexico,
Illinois,
NewJersey,
California,
California,
Oklahoma,
Florida,
Florida,
Maryland.
Brasil,
California,
California (Bay Area),
California.
Reports from Asia/Australia:
Nov. 17/18:
Japan,
Korea,
Thailand,
Malaysia,
Singapore,
radar Australia,
visual Australia,
New Zealand.
Reports from Europe:
Nov. 17/18:
Portugal,
Belgium,
Jordania,
Tenerife, Spain,
Norway.
Reports from America's:
Nov. 17/18:
Maryland,
Georgia,
New York,
Ontario, Canada,
South Carolina,
Massachusetts,
Brasil.
Retrospectives:
Poem of a missed opportunity,
Overwhelming,
Clouds in Louisiana,
Fantastic,
Time of peak,
Radio observations,
(<<)
Images:
On satellite impact hazard:
INTELSAT,
USAF Satelites weather Leonids
(<<)
Results from Europe:
The night Nov. 16/17:
the Netherlands,
Germany,
radio Netherlands,
Italy,
Canary Islands,
Northern Italy,
radio Netherlands.
The night Nov. 17/18:
the Netherlands.
Results from USA/Canada:
Arkansas,
East coast,
Eastcoast,
Hawaii,
Illinois,
Houston,
California,
California,
East coast,
radio Florida,
radio Florida,
island east coast,
Arizona,
radio Canada.
Results from southern America:
Brasil1,
Brasil2
Results from Asia:
radio Japan.
First impressions from professional
activities:
Univ. of Illinois,
FISBAT-CNR,
Inst. of Atmospheric Physics,Kuehlungsborn, Germany ,
Edwards AFB radar,
Edwards AFB photography,
Edwards AFB photography.
First analysis:
IAU Circular,
M. Langbroek, DMS,
R. Arlt, IMO.
THE WEATHER ON NOVEMBER 17,1997:
(courtesy Steve Marchant, CCC - Meteosat):
Africa
Australia
Eastern Asia
Europe
Eastern USA
USA
(<<)
The Leonids returned much as expected in 1996. Many people were clouded out. That was unfortunate, because the shower was as strong as a return of the Perseids, with an excess of bright meteors. The rates of the showerstill follow closely the behavior of the 1960's.
(<<)
The 1995 Leonids were observed from California and Europe (Spain) simultaneously
by members of the Dutch Meteor Society. The shower peaked over Europe close to
the node of the comet orbit. This was earlier than expected. The rates were less than
in 1994, following a similar pattern than in the 1960's.
(<<)
A strong shower surprised Peter Jenniskens in the early morning of November 18.
After an unsuccesful observing campaign in the previous night, spoiled by cloud and
rain shortly after the radiant rose above the horizon, suddenly there was the strong
shower that was first detected in 1961, some 4 years prior to the return of the comet.
The pattern repeated this year, except that the shower was a day late. Other
fortunate observers to withness this first of the Leonid outbursts
included Josep Trigo in Spain and radio observer Ilkka Yrjola in Finland.
(<<)
2000:
- April 16-19, 2000 - - Leonid MAC Workshop
2000, Tel Aviv, Israel. Contact: P. Jenniskens, Noah Brosch
- April 24-29, 2000 - EGS meeting
Special session on Leonids. Contact: K. Scherer, P. Jenniskens
- April 10-14, 2000 -
IAU Colloguium 181 "Dust in the Solar System and
other Planetary Systems", University of Kent at Canterbury,
UK. Contact: M. L. Watts.
- April 03-05, 2000 -
FIRST ANNUAL ASTROBIOLOGY SCIENCE CONFERENCE,
NASA Ames Research Center, CA. Contact:
Astrobiology Institute
- March 26-30, 2000 - Symposium on "Geochemistry and the Origin
of Life" at the Spring,
2000 American Chemical Society National
Meeting in San Francisco, CA. Contact:
D. Deamer
- March 13-17, 2000 -
31st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference,
LPI, Houston, Texas
. Contact: Charles B. Agee and David C. Black.
- Jan. 11, 2000 - Special session 38th AIAA symposium on
"Aerothermochemistry effects in meteoric plasmas"
at Reno Hilton, Reno, Nevada. Contact: P. Jenniskens
1999:
- April 12-15, 1999 - Leonid MAC Workshop NASA Ames Research Center, CA. Contact:
Peter Jenniskens.
- May 11-13, 1999 - '99 Leonid Meteoroid Storm and Satellite Threat Conference, Manhattan Beach, CA. Contact: David Lynch.
1998:
- April 27-28, 1998 - Meteoroid Strom and Satellite Threat Conference, Manhattan Beach, CA. Contact: David Lynch.
- April 29, 1998 - Leonid MAC working meeting, Manhattan Beach, CA. Contact: Peter Jenniskens.
- spring 1998 - AGU Spring meeting, special session. Contact: Mike Mendillo.
(<<)
