[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
Re: (meteorobs) 1989 Leonid Outburst
GWG asked:
>
> On the morning of November 16/17, 1989 I saw a brief Leonid outburst
>of about ten meteors in about 40 minutes centered around 10:30 UT. There
>was a Full Moon nearby and this activity was totally unexpected. This event
>was also seen by Roger Venable in Georgia, and reported in WGN by Richard
>Taibi of Maryland. Anyway, my question is what was the heliocentric longitude
>at that time, and how does it compare to the current prediction of the node
>crossing of the Leonids this year?
>
Hello George,
My worksheet gives for the above time (equinox 2000): lamda_sol = 235.06
+- 0.03 deg
Others on this list have algorithms of greater accuracy. The predicted
nodal crossing for this time around was reported by Robert McNaught as:
"The predicted node at this epoch as calculated by Yeomans before the
comet's recovery (Omega=235.25808) and the node calculated by Nakano using
1998 data (Omega=235.2583, both in equinox 2000) are effectively identical."
We should also not forget the more classical node of lamda_sol = 235.16
deg, which has shown notable activity for the last couple of years of
Leonid observations. This crossing occurs a couple of hours before the
current predicted peak, at 17.4 +-0.5 hoursUTC (Nov 17, 1998).
Take care,
Jim
James Richardson
Tallahassee, Florida
Operations Manager / Radiometeor Project Coordinator
American Meteor Society (AMS)
http://www.serve.com/meteors/
To UNSUBSCRIBE from the 'meteorobs' email list, use the Web form at:
http://www.tiac.net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs/subscribe.html
Follow-Ups:
References: