Sunday morning 4-6 EST is the Leonids meteor storm. Sounds like it could be the best of a lifetime.
Are you staying up?
I plan on setting the alarm. I hope I wake up.
Why can’t these things be in the middle of the day when I’m awake already?
My 7 yr old and I will get up. I’m hoping it will impress her.
Heeeyulll yah!
The forecast for tonight is “mostly clear” so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Gonna set the alarm for 3 to allow time to make a thermos of tea. Long johns are set out. Chaise longue, blanket, and binoculars (in case the display takes a while to crank up) at the ready by the back door.
I no longer believe any predictions about how good a meteor shower is going to be, because it seems like they hype 'em all, but even when they’re bad, meteor showers are good. And, well, if there was really really cool storm, and I slept through it because I’m so cynical, I’d feel really stupid.
You know, lola, if I saw a meteor in the daytime, I’d be worried. 
You bet!!
Some friends and I are going to go out to a club, and then when it closes take a haul out into the everglades, far from the city lights.
You bet. My hot tub is outside of my bedroom on the deck, looking east over Lake Michigan, the dark magnitude here is about 6.0, so I’ll roll out of bed and into the 100 degree water at about 3:40 am, then just float and stare skyward. Unless it’s cloudy, of course.
We’re not staying up, but we are going to set the alarm and get up early. There’s so much ground light living in the suburbs of Houston, I don’t know if we’ll really see much though. I was thinking we’d drive out to the lake (only about 5 minutes from the house) but last time we tried that we didn’t have much luck, still quite alot of ground light.
Yeah, I think I’m getting up, even though there’s so much light pollution where I live that I don’t know whether it’ll be worth it.
Hell Yeah. I bought three Red Bulls this week especially for the occasion.
Yep, getting up around 3am and driving north to a county park where the local astronomy club is having a gathering.Did it a few years ago and it was a great show!
Here’s some advice from a Leonids veteran:
-
Dress warmly. Even 60 degrees is cold when you aren’t moving for long periods of time.
-
Lie down, and try to get as big an area of the sky in your field of vision as possible. A chaise lounge is a good idea (that’s what I’m using tonight). The meteors appear to be coming from Leo, but that’s not really the best place to look. Looking straight up is your best bet.
-
Personally, I will take a nap later and then stay up straight. If I try to wake up at 1:00 I get groggy quickly.
-
You can have a telescope, but when you are looking through it you’ll miss the best meteor of the night, guaranteed.
Binoculars are handy; sometimes a very bright meteor leaves a trail that can linger for several minutes. Binoculars will help you see the trail even as it fades. -
Go with friends! It’s much more jolly to have agroup of enthusiastic people around. Being alone (as I will be tonight :-() will just make you fall asleep.
The peak on the west coast is due for 2:00 a.m. local time. I’ll be out an hour or so earlier, just in case.
Space.com has tons of info at http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/leonids_2001.html
Enjoy!
Of course. Sadly, we have no lounge chairs. I guess I’ll just wear two pairs of socks.
Oh god, it’s foggy! The fog rolled in! Curse the flying fickle finger of fate!! I hope things change over the next 7 and a half hours!!
I’d like to. I’ve seen predictions of 8,000 visible meteors per hour for Melbourne. But the weather forcast is crap, so I probably won’t bother.
Yup. I’ll be on the north shore of Superior away from light pollution. Looking good for no clouds.
I tried to nap earlier but I couldn’t sleep. I set the alarm just in case I can’t stay up. From the chart on the web page The Bad Astronomer linked to (thanks) it seems I would need to go out aroung 3:45 am. I plan on going to the litle lake behind my house. There is a grassy hill on one end, when you stand on it you can see much more of the sky then anywhere else.
Mmmm, I plan on taking a large cup of hot chocolate, and wrapping in a blanket. I hope no one else is up there although I suspect there will be.
Lot’s of wishes will go up into the sky tonight, I wonder what they’re all wishing for?
I always wish for love and money, or just money
Don’t know if I’ll be up for this one or not.
I did see the Leonids the last time they passed through and I was glad I did.
I laid on the hood of my car with my back on the windshield and it was the perfect angle. Also, the hood was warm because I’d driven out in the country to watch.
The term “shower” might cause some people to be disappointed. It ain’t like fireworks or anything. But at the peak of it I was seeing a streak every minute or so.
Ma Nature. She’s so cool.
Sigh…it’s raining here in the Ozarks. I’ll probably get up and take a peek, in case there might be a break in the clouds. 
Yup I’ll be staying up. The fog has been lifting here in Muncie and I’m driving to a pretty good place to see it if it gets clear enough out.
The weather report calls for partly cloudy up here in the Eastern-most town in the United States, Eastport, Maine. I’ve set the alarm for 5:00am so I’ll roll out and go down to the back deck and hope I can see something. It’s cold, about mid-twenties so I won’t be out there too long!