Recovering Data of an Observation of the Leonids in 1869 from the Lisbon Geophysical Observatory (Portugal)

Abstract

The Leonid meteor shower is renowned for its scientific and public interest. In a search for meteorological data from Portuguese stations, records on an observation of the Leonids in 1869 from the Lisbon Geophysical Observatory “Infante Dom Luiz” were found. Given their potential value, a digital version with metadata is provided in the present note (the recovered data are available on doi:10.5281/zenodo.11221019). The observation took place from 9 PM on 1869 November 13 to 6 AM on November 14, local time in Lisbon, with mostly clear skies and 4–5 observers covering completely the sky. They recorded 1980 meteors, noting Zodiacal Light visibility and detailing meteor counts every five minutes.