Hello all, Despite the Full Moon and it's eye that scorcheth all it glares upon, (that's Byron, not me ;-) this year's Leonid shower looks to be as promising as last year's boon of meteors. If you missed your chance to see the storm last year, be sure to mark your calendars for Monday night, November 18th/19th, 2002. I can honestly say that I saw more meteors in one night last November than I have in my entire time out under the stars with a telescope. Our excursion last November took us first to Virgin, Utah the night before the peak to check out a possible observing locale. The wind-ridden site, where we had hoped to meet others from Southern Utah, was harsh, inhospitable and therefore short-lived. We then spent the next morning and early afternoon seeing the sites of Zion and having lunch at our friends cafe: Tsunami Juice and Java/Zion Tubing owned and operated by Ken Warner's sister Cindy and her husband John. (No, we did not do any tubing!) Next, with clouds looming all around, we headed further south to explore and find our site for the upcoming peak. After much debate, worrying, and a little whining (not by me of course ;-) our little convoy found its way to Pipe Springs National Monument. With darkness quickly approaching, as well as what appeared to be a band of clear sky from the west, we decided that this truly was 'the place' and began to make what camp we could. A friendly group of rangers offered (or did we foist ourselves upon them?...I do not recall.) a viewing area near their living quarters and after sending an envoy armed with a thirty foot extension ladder and a roll of aluminum foil to dispatch an annoying local street-light, we had ourselves quite a nice setup. Not to mention the joy at seeing the clouds say goodnight as well! Throughout the night many of the rangers and their families stopped by for a peek through the scopes we had brought along but mainly to join in with our gasps of 'oohs & ahhs' at the Lion's light show. I hate to admit it, but it became almost commonplace to look up to the sky as you would walk around and see one meteor after another...two, three, five at a time. We did many 15 minute counts and came up with a Zenithal Hourly Rate of 800-1200 meteors at the peak. A fabulous night of meteors!! The icing on the cake came as everyone had either left or was packing: a green sporadic fireball which had me on my knees having a personal religious experience. I know there were several other members of SLAS who witnessed this one from other parts of Utah with similar exaltation. Now, the predictions are in for this year from the various camps and it seems the further East and South you are the better. The radiant will be higher in the sky the further East you travel, (I'm still trying to figure out the 'Going South' part...anyone care to chime in?) but my feelings are that in heading south (and low) we have the best chance of clear weather once again. This year I'm being drawn for some inexplicable reason to the Four Corners area so I've looked into a group campsite at the Mitten View Campground in Monument Valley. I have yet to hear back if a site is available for the night of the 18th but will keep those who are interested informed. Here are a few links to entice you to join me for our last chance for 33 years to witness this grand spectacle: http://www.go-utah.com/monument_valley http://www.go- utah.com/topicDetail.cfm?objectID=563E7860-634A-11D4-AADF0050DAB32CA6 and my homepage for the amazing views from the campground and a map of the area: http://homepage.mac.com/dlbennett/ Please email me at dlbennett@mac.com if you are interested on being put on a list of those to contact with additional details once I have more concrete info. 'The goodness of the night upon you, friends!' Dave Bennett P.S. My heartfelt apologies for my unusual verbosity. http://homepage.mac.com/dlbennett/