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Leonids Report - East Coast

Greetings Stargazers:

It is about 3:15 a.m. Eastern time, and I have just returned from a rural
corner of northern New Jersey -- lovely spot outside my friend's cabin,
above a lake -- where a gathering of local meteor, meteorite, and astronomy
enthusiasts spent a lively evening watching the skies.

Viewing conditions were largely good: A few bands of haze moved through,
but mostly clear and cold. Approx. twelve people observed on and off
between 10:30 p.m. and 1:45 a.m.

Results: Between 40 and 50 meteors total, of which 5 or 6 were very bright
-- streaking almost entirely across the sky and leaving visible trails for
a second or two. At least six of the 40-50 appeared to be sporadics.

Most of the best meteors were seen earliest in the evening (shortly after
10:30 p.m.) suggesting that we might have been witnessing the tail end of
an earlier peak? Numbers (but not magnitude) increased slightly after 1
a.m., which may have been due to darker skies as the moon set.

Not spectacular by any means, but a fine evening nonetheless -- especially
the frequent trips back to the cabin (where our pot-bellied stove was
roaring), for wine and excellent baked ziti.

Our fine host, Bill, set up his massive Dobsonian telescope outside, so we
were also treated to marvelous views of the rings of Saturn, Jupiter's
moons, and the Orion nebula.

My regards to those of you still out and watching. Good luck, and please
post your stories tomorrow.

Good night from New York/New Jersey

Geoff N.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Geoffrey Notkin
Senior Art Director
Stanegate Studios, USA
P.O. Box 87,  Jersey City, NJ 07303

Telephone: (201) 435-8888

Email: geoking@advanix.net
            ammonite@aol.com

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