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After many years with special dust trails and larger or smaller maxima, the Leonids of 2011 were quite normal. Close to the node passage (0340 UT), a −7 mag Leonid flared up on the morning of 18 November at 04:26 UT. The bright waning Moon was not far from the radiant. I had therefore tilted the camera with its 8mm fisheye lens towards the west, so the meteor trail does not run along the edge of the field. Visually, the persistent train was no longer discernible after about 30 s. On the following photos, each exposed for 59s, the drifting train can still be seen for 33 min. The two small pictures show the train after 1 and 2 min. Location: Izaña, Tenerife, hence the very transparent sky.
© Jürgen Rendtel
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