[thechat] Early Sunday: Leonid!

[Tony Crockford]

Woo Hoo!

<snip>
                       Lunar Leonids Opportunity

     During the early evenings of November 17 and 18, a storm of Leonid
meteors is expected to hit the dark side of the thin crescent Moon.  If
you have a video camera for your telescope, find a location with a
reasonably unobstructed southeastern horizon and record the dark side of
the Moon from as soon as it gets reasonably dark (about 5:30 pm EST)
until the Moon sets a few hours later.  Use a focal-reducing lens to
increase field size and enable recording of fainter impacts.  This will
probably be the best opportunity to record lunar meteor impacts for
about 30 years when the Leonid storms return.  More information about
lunar meteors can be found at http://iota.jhuapl.edu .

</snip>