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Leonids from Peyton, CO
A few folks from our local astronomy club and some friends gathered at a
ranch in Peyton, CO for our annual Leonid party. They had been
predicting a front to come through but it managed to come through with a
minimum of clouds so we really had ideal viewing conditions except for
some wind. For most of us, this was going to be an all night affair so
we had our potluck first and kept checking the skies -- nothing really
until close to midnight. As we laid on lawn chairs and sleeping bags
and looked to the east we began to see a few meteors and soon Leo was
rising and we saw many Leonids over the next few hours. Most were fast
and left little faint trails behind. Most did seem to come from the
radiant and there were some sporadics and Taurids as well. About 0243
MST we suddenly saw the sky light up with a huge burst of light just a
little south of Regulus -- we estimated the mag at about -10 but none
of us had ever seen any this bright before and didn't know what to
compare it with. It lit up the entire landscape and seem to *pop* and
go out leaving a fat glowing blob behind. This glowing patch, about 5
degrees across persisted for about 15 minutes with the naked eye and
another 10 min. with the binoculars. Needless to say we were cheering
and shouting and otherwise going crazy. That one Leonid made the whole
night worthwhile. I stayed awake until almost sunrise and was able to
still see some faint Leonids even as the sky brightened. Certainly the
shower didn't compare to last year's fireball show but we had another
wonderful Leonid party without a blizzard so that was enough for us.
Ginger Mayfield
Divide, CO
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