Are these going to be visible tonight?

The best viewing will be in the pre-dawn hours tomorrow (Nov 17th).  Find out more here;

http://spaceweather.com/

Thanks but I don't think I'll be up that earlly.

Yep, the Geminid Meteor shower is better for folks who don't want to get up early but still one has to observe from about 11pm on December 13th to about 5am on December 14th.

That's just the way it is with meteor showers....the physics and geometry of astronomy.

Clear Skies   --- Silveradogold

Ok... So who is going out to see the Leonids tonight or I should say tomorrow morning?

 I will.

Clear Skies   --- Silveradogold

The Leonid meteor shower may be more active than normal this year, with a possible outburst taking place after the shower’s traditional peak, which should occur around 16:00 UT (IMO site & the RASC Observer's Handbook) on Tuesday.  An enhanced rate of more than 100 meteors per hour (up to 500 per hour according to one prediction mentioned in the November issue of Sky & Telescope) may occur at approximately 22:00 UT on November 17, favoring observers in Asia.

http://www.imo.net/calendar/2009#leo

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/04dec_leonids2009.htm

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/skyblog/observingblog/35935909.html

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/081204-leonids-meteor-shower-2009.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33589356/ns/technology_and_science-science/

There may be some activity on Wednesday morning too.

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/69850097.html

Dave Mitsky

Silveradogold:

 

Ok... So who is going out to see the Leonids tonight or I should say tomorrow morning?

 I will.

Clear Skies   --- Silveradogold

 

I get up at 3:15am to have plenty of smokes and coffee before I have to go to work at 6:am. So I will be up and out there to see the sights if it's not cloudy,,, even if it is cloudy I will still be out there having smokes and coffee as always

Al

alright I'm going to try to get up around 5am.  Do you think I'll be able to see anything at that time?

I didn't see anything it was so cloudy

 I have my camera set up, but it's foggy here too. I can also here those dripping sounds in the woods, and some other things falling, and crunching around back there. I can only see a few stars towards the east, but the camera is picking up more than I can see. I'm going to shoot for a while to see what happens. If I catch anything, I'll post it here.

I'm not seeing any thing here in South Dakota either. High ice particles causing a lot of sky glow. It's 20 degrees F here...froze my buns off out there and saw nothing.

JJ 

 It's not looking to promising here either John. I've been shooting 30 second exposures with 15 to 20 seconds between each exposure for the past hour, and I've yet to see anything either. Maybe things will pick up during this final hour? 

Should have paid more attention to the CSC.

 Clouds blew away by 5:30 here outside of Phila., but the glow of the city is sadly omnipresent.  I ended up seeing 4 meteors and six satellites...which is better than a sharp stick in the eye, I suppose. 

Nothing here either.  Not becuase of dramatic fogs or ominous crunching foliage but plain old haze, humidity, and skyglow washed out all bt the brighter stars so after 20 minutes or so I gave up and returned to the warmth of my bed.

L

Clouds and rain at 43 N  123W (Oregon)   Got up at 3:00 and 5:00am. Real windy too, local news reported 95 mph gusts on coast and 40-50 inland.

                                                                         CW

I checked several times before finally going to bed but the sky was at least 80% overcast and the satellite IR map didn't offer any hope, despite one forecaster on the local news radio station prattling on about how it would be mostly clear for the Leonid meteor shower. ;)

An observing buddy and I had planned on travelling to Cherry Springs State Park on Monday but the forecast of three consecutive clear nights dropped to two and then only one, namely tonight.  CSSP is too far a drive for only one night's observing.

I'm going to one of the "local" dark sites tonight and hope to see a few Earthgrazing Leonids.

Dave Mitsky

So far I've seen no reports of anything but a normal hourly number of Leonids.  The highest ZHR on the IMO site was only ~45.

Dave Mitsky