Leonids 2000 : Crash-Expedition
DMS-members observing the Leonids 2000


Arnold Tukkers mother-in-law
asked her Crystal ball
about the Dutch weather
and this is what comes out of it:
(in typically "Twents" dialect)

"allemoal wolk'n bom'n hollaand
en de rest van Europa",
doo dus de oog'n mer dicht".

Jacob Kuiper remarks:

"kijkt je schoonmoeder in de bol,
dan gaat het weer op hol!"
    1. Introduction
    2. Astronomical considerations
    3. Meteorological considerations
    4. DMS teams
    5. Scenario's
    6. Timetable
    7. Logistics
    8. Communications
    9. Observing techniques
    10. References
    11. Checklist
    12. Conclusion
    13. Appendixes

Last updated: 12 november 2000


The Dutch version of the Leonids 2000 Crash-Expedition handbook is now nearing completion. We have received a couple of suggestions which are being processed. When time permits we will try to translate the main points in the handbook into English and publish them on the website. So please have some patience! Time is out greatist enemy....

Our well known photographer Robert Haas has developed a very nice logo for this expedition which will be used on the cover of the handbook and also at the website.


The Dutch version of the Leonid 2000 Crash-Expedition handbook is nearly final by the time you read this. The English version, which is below, is still being worked on. Please have some patience. If you wish you can have a copy of the Dutch handbook by sending an e-mail to me: Casper ter Kuile





Introduction

After the highly succesfull Sino-Dutch Leonid Expedition '98 and the Leonid Expedition '99 to Spain DMS members are now in charge for the Leonids 2000. At this moment a Leonid 2000 Crash-Expedition Handbook is completed and will be officially introduced at the autumn meeting on Sunday oktober 29 at the Public Observatory Bussloo.


Astronomical

We know a number of streammodelling theories:

  1. Asher & McNaught
  2. Lyytinen
  3. Ferrin
  4. Gockel & Jehn

When we examine these publications we can conclude there is a high level of uncertainty. This is why members of the Dutch Meteor Society decided to observe the Leonids on both 16/17 and 17/18 november.

The tables below present important information of the Moon, Sun and Leonid Radiant

MOON
 

16/17

17/18

Moonrise

20h11m

21h28m

Culmination

4h29m

5h26m

Position RA

8h24m

9h23m

Position DC

+21g

+18g

K

68%

57%


SUN

Start Twilight

Elevation

Utrecht

Toulon

Brest

Valencia

Faro
   

52 / +5

43 / +6

48 / -4

39 / 0

37 / -8

Astronomical

-18

5h05m

4h53m

5h40m

5h15m

5h43m

Nautical

-12

5h45m

5h27m

6h17m

5h47m

6h14m

Civil

-6

6h27m

6h02m

6h55m

6h20m

6h45m

Sunrise

-0.8

7h05m

6h33m

7h30m

6h49m

7h13m


RADIANT

RA = 10h12m // DC = +22°

Time

Azimuth

Elevation

[UT]

(S = 0 ; W = 90)

  

22

234

1

23

246

9

0

256

17

1

267

26

2

280

36

3

294

44

4

312

52

5

334

58

6

1

60


Meteorological

To observe the Leonids in full glory we need cloudless skies. In western Europe that might be the biggest problem of all in this time of the year. To find that tiny little gap in the clouds we should be mobile to the max. We distinguish 5 meteorological situations:

  1. A high pressure system north of the Netherlands above Scandinavia. North-eastern winds bring dry and cold air towards the Netherlands.
  2. High pressure above the Azores. Depressions are on and off over western Eurpoe. Very changable weather.
  3. A low above Genua: Mistral over the Provence bring crystal clear skies.
  4. A complex situation covering a number of low above Europe. This is much like we had in 1996. Very difficult to forecast.
  5. A large high pressure area covering most of Europe. High changes of fog, mist, low cloudlayers. Go to the top of high hills or move to the edges of the system.

The table below presents the hours of sunshine in november in the west-European city's mentioned. This information may be of help when deciding where to setup your observing session.

Hours of Sunshine in November
in western Europe

No

City

Country

Sun
[hours]

Sun
[%]

Geo-
N

Geo-
W / E

1

Ostende

Belgium

65

  

51° 12'

2° 52'

2

St. Hubert

Belgium

57

  

50° 02'

5° 24'

3

Karup

Denmark

41

16

56° 17'

9° 08'

4

Hannover

Germany

58

  

52° 28'

9° 42'

5

Berlin

Germany

52

  

52° 28'

13° 24'

6

Koln

Germany

73

  

50° 52'

7° 08'

7

Frankfurt

Germany

44

  

50° 03'

8° 35'

8

Karsruhe

Germany

59

  

49° 01'

8° 23'

9

Feldberg

Germany

86

  

47° 52'

8° 00'

10

Caen

France

84

  

49° 11'

-0° 27'

11

Dijon

France

68

24

47° 16'

5° 05'

12

Nevers

France

82

  

47° 00'

3° 06'

13

Nantes

France

91

31

47° 10'

-1° 36'

14

Lyon

France

75

25

45° 43'

4° 57'

15

Limoges

France

84

  

45° 52'

1° 11'

16

Bordeau

France

103

34

44° 50'

-0° 42'

17

Toulon

France

157

55

43° 06'

5° 56'

18

Perpignan

France

148

53

42° 44'

2° 52'

19

Valencia

Spain

159

49

39° 30'

-0° 28'

20

Madrid

Spain

147

52

40° 28'

-3° 34'

21

Almeria

Spain

185

58

36° 51'

-2° 23'

22

Faro

Portugal

182

59

37° 01'

-7° 55'


DMS teams

DMS members have set up three expeditions this year.

  1. Hans Betlem and team is heading for Spain. This will be the so called "camper expedition".
  2. Peter Bus, Jaap van 't Leven and Klaas Jobse go to the Algarve in Portugal.
  3. And the rest of us is heading for a location somewhere in western Europe where the Leonids will be visible against a starry background



Scenario's

We have about 7 scenario's to reckon with:

  1. Clear skies over the Netherlands
  2. Clear skies over northern Germany / Denmark
  3. Clear skies over eastern Germany
  4. Clear skies over Belgium / Ardennes / northern France
  5. Clear skies over southern Germany / central France
  6. Clear skies over atlantic coastal area of France
  7. Clear skies over souther France / Provence / Mediterrain area


Timetable

This paragraph discusses into a lot of detail when to do what by whom. It starts on Tuesday november 7 with the first analyses of the weather forecasts. On wednesday november 15 a decision may be made on where to go.

Logistics

This paragraph discusses how to get there.

Communications

The table below presents the phonenumbers of our observers. During the expedition the teams can be contacted by using the mobile numbers.

Name

Local

Mobile(1)

Mobile(2)

Casper

+31-30-2203170

+31-6-24242445

+31-6-53270844

Robert

+31-172-441270

+31-6-24200247

+31-6-21543707

Koen

+31-341-558729

    

Marco

+31-71-5613750

+31-6-22926983

  

Marc

+31-70-3205673

+31-6-20014479

  

Jos

+31-229-591552

    

Carl

+49-2562-22345

    

Romke

+31-53-4311090

+31-6-53696066

  

Arnold

+31-541-354598

+31-6-23983322

  

Rita

+31-74-2438748

    

VST-Lattrop

+31-541-229700

    

Jacob

+31-30-2204268

+31-6-51507483

  

Peter

+31-50-3134211

 

Jaap

+31-36-5335353

    

Klaas

+31-118-582816

    

Olga

+31-317-414925

+31-6-23317066

  

Hans

+31-71-5223817

+31-6-54636033

+31-6-27012449

Ton

+31-50-5013382

    

Jean-Marie

  

+32-49-6751845

  


Observing Techniques

  1. Visual
  2. Photographic
  3. Video
  4. Radio


References

Below we present some interesting links to information we used to setup our expedition.

  1. http://home.wanadoo.nl/dms/leonids/1999/expedition.html
  2. http://home.wanadoo.nl/dms/leonids/1999/leonid_1999_results.html
  3. http://home.wanadoo.nl/dms/leonids/1999/dmsother.html
  4. Documentation Leonids 2000 (E-mail discussions)

  5. http://www.arm.ac.uk/leonid/index.html
  6. http://www.arm.ac.uk/leonid/dustexpl.html

  7. http://www.metaresearch.org/solar%20system/leonid/leonid2000_predictions.asp
  8. http://www.metaresearch.org/expeditions/past/1999leonid/1999leonidreport.asp
  9. http://www.metaresearch.org/expeditions/coming/storms/leonids-2001-expedition.asp

  10. http://www.atnf.csiro.au/asa_www/info_sheets/leonids.html
  11. http://www.sci.fi/~fmbb/astro/leonids.htm

  12. http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/index.html
  13. http://web99.arc.nasa.gov/~leonid/1998.html
  14. http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/leonidnews.html

  15. http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast10oct_1.htm
  16. http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast26oct_1.htm
  17. http://comets.amsmeteors.org/meteors/showers/leonids.html
  18. http://www.skypub.com/sights/meteors/meteors.shtml
  19. http://hometown.aol.com/theleonids/index.html
  20. http://www.orion-drustvo.si/MBKTeam/mbkteam.htm


Checklist

This checklist is primarily aimed not to forget important things.


Conclusions

Appendixes



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DMS homepage		 back.gif This page was last modified on November 12, 2000 by
Carl Johannink and Casper ter Kuile