The 23rd Astronomical Camping
Leonids' 98 from Jordan

An overview is given of the Jordanian Astronomical Society (JAS) observations of the 23rd astronomical camping, which was dedicated to observe the 1998 Leonids' meteor shower around its peak. The camping was held between 16-18 November, in a site close to Al-Azraq Oasis which is located 150 Km east of Amman, the capital of Jordan. The Coordinates of the observing site are :-
37:06:45 E , 31:42:58 N , h=555 m, Time Zone = UT+2 .

10 members participated in the first night, and other 16 members joined them in the second night. It was expected that the storm will occur anytime between 15-23 UT on the night of 17-18/11 But unexpectedly, an outburst occurred on the night of 16-17/11 ! Jordan was well-placed for that unexpected high rate of meteors, since the the number of meteors reached its maximum on 17 November at 01:30 UT (This what both showed; IMO and JAS' calculations). Thus, we may say that Jordan was one of the best places to watch the Leonids' 98 meteor shower !

1. Khalil Konsul (KONKH)
2. Khalid Al-Tell (TELKH)
3. Amera Al-Hemsy (HEMAM)
4. Iyad Mustafa (MUSIY)
5. Ghazalaha Al-Abd (ABDGH)
6. Yahya Bani-Hamad (HAMYA)
7. Noor Al-Khatib (KHANO)

B) The Total Number of Meteors:-

* Teff: Effective time in hours.

C) Raw Reports

* Remarks:-

• Teff: Effective time in hours.
• n: Number of meteors
• HR: Hourly Rate: The number of meteors that would appear per hour, assuming the same level of activity.
• ZHR: The number of meteors a single experienced observer would see per hour, if the radiant is directly overhead and the limiting magnitude is 6.5. That means the number of the observed meteors will be corrected for:-
  1. Obscured percentage (clouds, buildings, ...etc.).
  2. Limiting magnitude (If less/More than 6.5.).
  3. Radiant's altitude above the local horizon (If less than 90 degrees).
  However, on the first night only, the correction for the limiting magnitude was not included, because this correction is usually applied to compensate the missed faint-meteors (fainter than the limiting magnitude) And as all our observers, including those who had a limiting magnitude of 6.35, generally didn't see meteors of 5th and 6th magnitudes, so nearly there was no missed faint-meteors for all who had a limiting magnitude more than 5 (which is the case of all our observers at that time). If we applied the correction for the limiting magnitude, we would get higher ZHRs, but they would be unreal. On the other hand, we can't say there were no meteors of 5th and 6th magnitudes at that time, but the error resulting from applying the correction will be mostly higher than it if it is not applied. All of this had happened because the outburst was VERY reach with fireballs, and bright meteors, while no considerable faint meteors were observed.
• As there were no clouds, so the only correction which was applied to get the ZHR was the altitude of the radiant above the local horizon.
• Generally, the limiting magnitude was 6.0

D) Unified Report

* Remarks:-

• HR: The average of HRs of observers.
• ZHR: The average of ZHRs of observers.
• The above results show that both HR and ZHR increased as time passed, and both reached the maximum between 01:30 - 02:00 UT. Afterwards, although the observing conditions didn't change and the radiant was getting higher, both; HR and ZHR started to decline ! This emphasizes that Jordan was perfectly well-placed to watch the outburst.

E) Observers' Reactions

• Khalid Al-Tell: I saw 256 meteors on 17/11 between 1:02 - 1:58 UT, this corresponds to ZHR of 446, and I saw 237 between 1:58 - 2:54 UT (ZHR = 364). While I observed 64 meteors between 2:19 - 2:31 UT (ZHR = 463). Also some fireballs appeared from horizon to horizon (180 degrees) ! Many of which were green.
• Khalil Konsul: I was too much astonished from the very long meteors that no doubt reached about 180 degrees in the sky ! And from meteors that appeared to move right above the horizon. Also, a meteor changed its path in the sky ! It cloud be a debri of an artificial satellite.
• Noor Al-Khatib: At 5:30 local time (About one hour after the beginning of dawn) I saw the most beautiful meteor in my whole life ! It was a bright rainbow-like meteor (so colorful) It started as a white meteor, then yellow, after that green, and ended with a blue flash ! The tail was so long, about 20-25 degrees in the sky. I wished all the observers shared that moment with me.
• Ghazalaha Al-Abed: It was my first observation with JAS, and it was as I wished "full of fireballs". Lucky me, I could see more than 4 meteors at the same moment, and feel the brightness of others from behind me ! One of my friends in USA told me that he could count 75 meteors within one hour, and he thought I won't believe it ! But now I want to tell him that I do believe him !
• Mohammad Odeh (from Amman): I was able to see many fireballs after 23 UT on 16/11, I couldn't believe what I was seeing, sometimes I was not able to follow the meteors. For example, around 00 UT on 17/11 I estimated that three meteors per minute were observed ! Within about one hour from 23:30 - 00:30 UT I may say that I saw about 100 meteors ! None of which was fainter than magnitude ZERO ! Knowing that I was observing from our balcony, where more than 50 % of the sky was obscured. It was the best meteor shower I've ever seen !
• Mohammad Alawneh (from Amman): Woow !! On the night 16-17/11, sometimes I was scared from my hands' shadow on my face, that formed from the fireballs ! At certain times, I could see about 3-4 meteors appearing at the same second.
• Basma Dhyab (from Amman), although this is not a Leonid meteor, but I think it is worth mentioning: On 17/11 around 17 UT, while I was inside my room , near the window, I suddenly saw a strong green-blue flash inside the room ! I could see it reflected from the room's floor ! The window was covered by a curtain, with a narrow gap. I didn't know it was a meteor until I knew from the other observers in the desert that they saw a very bright fireball at that time !
• All the observers, in Al-Azraq and Amman agreed that the outburst was full of fireballs, the brightest reached about -11 magnitude or even more ! Mohammad Alawneh said that "before the dawn, I was no longer excited in meteors fainter than magnitude -2 !!" Many meteors were so long in the sky, ranged from 100-140 degrees, and sometimes 180 ! An interesting thing the observers saw, is that many meteor trails made marvelous and fantastic shapes !

1. Khalid Al-Tell (TELKH)
2. Mohammad Odeh (ODEMO)
3. Ibrahim Odwan (ODWIB)
4. Hani Al-Dalee (DALHA)
5. Ahmad Al-Niamat (ALNAH)
6. Noor Al-Khatib (KHANO)
7. Zaid Abdulla (ABDZA)

B) The Total Number of Meteors:-

* Teff: Effective time in hours.

C) Raw Reports

* Remarks:-

• Teff: Effective time in hours.
• n: Number of meteors
• HR: Hourly Rate: The number of meteors that would appear per hour, assuming the same level of activity.
• ZHR: The number of meteors a single experienced observer would see per hour, if the radiant is directly overhead and the limiting magnitude is 6.5. That means the number of the observed meteors will be corrected for:-
  1. Obscured percentage (clouds, buildings, ...etc.).
  2. Limiting magnitude (If less/More than 6.5.).
  3. Radiant's altitude above the local horizon (If less than 90 degrees).
• The individual ZHRs are calculated with a population index r = 2.0
• As there were no clouds, the only correction which was applied to get ZHR was the altitude of the radiant above the local horizon.
• Generally, the limiting magnitude was 6.0

D) Unified Report

* Remarks:-

• HR: The average of HRs of observers.
• ZHR: The average of ZHRs of observers.

• Observers: Ala' al-Hemsy, Moh'd Alawneh, and Moh'd Odeh
• Location: Al-Azraq desert, Jordan (37 07' E, 31 43' N)
• Antenna: Yagi FM 3 elements.
• Receiver: Commercial FM radio (Eroica)
• Observing Method: Listening by ear
• Frequency: 97.2 MHz
• Transmitter Location: Five Stations:-
  1. Turkey, 750 Km at 30 KW Power.
  2. Turkey, 900 Km at 30 KW Power.
  3. Turkey, 1106 Km at 30 KW Power.
  4. Turkey, 811 Km at 05 KW Power.
  5. Cyprus, 600 Km at 10 KW Power.

Visual Observations:-