Leonids meteor storm 1999

During the night 17/18 november 1999 astronomers expected a meteor storm above Western Europe. During that time the Dutch Meteor Society organised a big observing campaign in Southern Europe. The team I was in stayad at La Roque des Alberes, a small village near the French/Spanish border, lying against the Pyrenean mountains. Due to bad weather forecasts we had to move in southern direction on 17 november 1999. After a 600 km drive we found a observing site near the small town of Xalos ( about 40 km south of Valencia). After setting up the equipment we waited on the expected meteor storm. And the meteorstorm dit occur! After a while rates go up and at the maximum of the storm we could count 40-50 Leonids a minute! Sometimes you could see 5-8 meteors in a second, followed by a short period with nothing to see. A real thrilling experience, everywhere you look you could see the meteors pooring down from the head of the constellation Lion (Leo). Most meteors we observed this night were weak, just three real bright meteors (fireballs) were seen. This night I used a Canon T70 with a 1.4/50 mm lens in combination with Kodak Elite II 200 asa colorslide film. The Canon T70 is operated with a command back, the camera runs automaticly so I could enjoy the celestial show. Expusure time : 9m58s each photo. For a English report/story about this Leonid expedition and other Leonid expeditions in 1995 (Spain), 1996 (northwest France), 1997 (The Netherlands), 1999 (China), 1999 (Spain), 2000 (Portugal), 2001 (China), 2002 and 2003 (both Portugal) see my website www.koenmiskotte.nl