Kim asked:
Is there a specific technique for estimating meteor brightness?
I've heard serious amateurs who report a bolide as "brighter than Mars, but dimmer than Jupiter." It's then easy to find in S&T the approximate magnitude of those planets that night. Right now Mars is zero mag, Jupiter about -2 and Venus is -4. For the really bright ones, the half moon is -10 and the full moon is -12. I have seen a Leonid that bright and I heard it too. Listen for this phenomenon: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast26nov_1.htm DT ____________________________________________________________________________________ Park yourself in front of a world of choices in alternative vehicles. Visit the Yahoo! Auto Green Center. http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center/