I went to bed
early last night so I could wake up in time
this morning to see the
Leonid meteor shower.
NASA's web site hinted it would peak about 5:22, so I was out there by
about 5:15.
I live in suburbia, so the city glow is moderate.
Unfortunately, all my neighbors had their outside lights on.
Even so, the moon overpowered their lights.
As bright as the sky was, I was afraid it would be difficult to see enough
stars to locate Leo. Luckily, Orion was quite visible, and Jupiter
was very handily near the center of action this year.
In the first 30 seconds of watching, I saw about 5 meteors, and a few more
in the following minutes. After that, not much. Discouraged by the damp
cold and the light pollution, I went back inside. Even so, I feel satisfied.
Last year, the leonids were rained out, and so I saw nothing.
It's been a while since I could see 10 meteors in less than 5 minutes.
They say this will be the last good viewing of the Leonid meteor shower
in a while. Oh well; there are always others.