Leonid Meteor Shower - You see it? Where?
Awesome. Bloody awesome. Best I've ever seen in my 19 years on this planet. I must've seen well over 200 or 250. I stopped counting after 50-something. Some just streaked by, some seemed to streak and then pop out in a flash like they were exploding. I remember this one big one that split into three parts as it streaked in. Great show!
I went up to this place called Pilot Mountain where there must have been 30 or 40 others laying on the grass and sitting on lawn chairs. There were guys and girls, young and old. On the east coast, the prime viewing time was from 4AM to 6AM. It was cold up there. Pilot Mountain is an odd bit of geography; it's just a giant "knob" out in the piedmont of North Carolina. It's pretty far from the city lights and very tall. FYI, if you've ever seen the old black and white "Andy Griffith Show" you've probably seen Pilot Mtn. in the background.
<a href="http://www.cicada.com/pub/friends/downey/pilot.html" target="_blank"> http://www.cicada.com/pub/friends/downey/graphics/knob_small.jpg </a>
I think stargazing is best when drunk; though, cuz some of those hicks were *really* getting into it. This one group of men with James Taylor thumpin from their Cadillac was constantly spewing out a southern drawl of "hey-look-over-there-over-there did-you-see-it-did-you-see-that holy-shit damnit-did-you-see-that-one oh-look-over-there-shit that-one-exploded damn-look-over-there oh-hell-yeah!" Very funny guys. :D
IMNSHO, this was not another overrated celestial event. It was beautiful. This'll be one night I won't forget for a long time.
[1671 byte] By [
Brad] at [2007-11-15 9:15:04]
# 1 Re: Leonid Meteor Shower - You see it? Where?
I went outside for about half an hour and saw 40 or so. I live in the middle of nowhere, but there were a few clouds, so that might have affected it somewhat. More than I usually see, but nothing super spectacular here.
# 3 Re: Leonid Meteor Shower - You see it? Where?
It was perfectly cloudless here, but I missed the peak hours :( . I did see a couple of dozen between 11:00 and 12:00 while I was at work.
Five or six years ago, maybe more, I was camping in the Adirondacks, where there was no light pollution during the Leonids. That was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. Especially since I didn't even know they were occuring that night.
# 4 Re: Leonid Meteor Shower - You see it? Where?
Here in Cleveland, I went out to watch around 4:30 AM and some of what I saw was breathtaking. I could see one about every 10 seconds for a while, but then it slowed down.
Great show!
# 5 Re: Leonid Meteor Shower - You see it? Where?
I watched from my backyard for maybe 10-20 minutes around 2 am (PST). I didn't keep track of how many I saw, but I'm sure that stupid street light obscured several (stupid public safety ;) ). I'd never seen a meteor with a tail that stuck around longer than the meteor itself did. Last night gets my official Cool Stamp(tm) :)
# 6 Re: Leonid Meteor Shower - You see it? Where?
I saw it, it was pretty cool, I was out from 1:30 AM to 2:00AM. a little cold here in Washington, and very dark out (I live on a island about 80 miles north of Seattle).
# 7 Re: Leonid Meteor Shower - You see it? Where?
A few years ago I saw one flying overhead in broad daylight REALLY low. Like, in-front-of-a-mountain-flying-towards-a-lake low. Pretty close, I could see stuff flying off of it and there was green smoke coming off of it.
And no, I'm not making that up. :)
# 8 Re: Leonid Meteor Shower - You see it? Where?
My friend Michelle and I drove out to about 20 minutes east of Northfield, MN. Pulled off onto some dirt road next to some farmer's field and watched the sky laying on the back of my truck (damn, pickups kick ass :D ). We just barely missed the peak hours (it took her a while to get me awake and alert enough to get out of bed and drive), but it was still pretty spectacular.
# 10 Re: Leonid Meteor Shower - You see it? Where?
overcast until 4 AM...I saw a few that looked as big as streetlights yards away. They lit up the entire sky...cast cloud shadows too. I've never seen anything like it, and I was in a well illuminated Target parking lot waiting for my GameCube.
Eugene at 2007-11-17 15:31:21 >
