by Albert Highe
I've learned not to care much for meteor showers. All those I had "seen" in the past were disappointingly boring. However, for some reason, I paid more attention to the predictions of an impending Leonid meteor storm this year. Covering my bets, I told myself that my primary intent for Saturday was dark sky observing. Also, since I had arranged with the ranger at Dinosaur Point to meet him and deliver our combination lock for the gate, I planned to go there. Observing the Leonids would be a bonus after a relaxing evening of hunting for faint fuzzies.
I arrived at Dinosaur Point shortly after 4PM. Although the sky was clear west of Pacheco Pass, clouds covered Dino and the central valley as far as the eye could see. Gregory Edwards was already there with his entire family and some friends. Later, Jamie Dillon, and Jeff Crilly, with family, arrived.
At sunset, the ranger cleared everyone except us out of the lot, and locked us in.
We hung around for a couple of hours after dark, barbecuing, eating dinner, and talking. At about 8PM, we all agreed that the clouds were not going to lift. So we all left. Jamie and I found clear skies on a side road near Casa de Fruta, and watched the clouds move in while we sat and talked. At about 10PM, the clouds had almost completely covered the sky, so Jamie and I left for home.
I returned home by 11:30PM. It was completely clear in Redwood City. I woke my wife up at 1AM and we set up on our rear deck. We had a view of a little over half the sky, facing southeast. At the peak, we were observing as many as 10 bright meteors per minute. The meteors tended to come in clusters, with as many as four visible simultaneously. We saw a lot of very bright and long tails cut across Orion. It was nice to be away from the crowds, enjoying the spectacle together. The best part was when we got tired, we only needed to take a few steps into the house and into bed.