(meteorobs) December 14, 2004 Meteor Observations from California
Robert Lunsford
lunro.imo.usa at cox.net
Sat Dec 18 01:45:25 EST 2004
Joseph Assmus and I observed from a windy Descanso site tonight. It was an
interesting night as there were many more people around than the previous
night. There were a group of girls wandering through the burnt bushes with
flashlights. I wonder if they knew this is prime mountain lion territory?
Another group of youngsters arrived around 11pm complete with a guitar and
bongo drums. Actually their music was enjoyable, even to this old fogy.
There was no fog blocking the city lights tonight so the sky did not look as
impressive as the previous night. The limiting magnitude counts were still
respectable though. As for the meteor activity, the show began right where
it left off the night before. The Geminid meteors were obviously brighter
tonight. Even though rates started off strong, as the night progressed the
Geminid rates declined quite a bit. This was the best view of the declining
stages of the Geminids I can recall. The Monocerotids were a surprise
tonight, producing nine dim shower members. The highlight of the night was a
brilliant -10 neon blue Geminid fireball that shot low into the western sky
at 11:20 PST. There were several -6, -5, and -4's Geminids, mostly golden
and orange colored, that would have been the highlight of the session any
other night.
December 14, 2004
0630-0730 UT 1.00 6.46 1 ANT 0 COM 79 GEM 1 HYD 3 MON
0 PUP 11 SPO 95 TOTAL
0730-0830 UT 1.00 6.36 0 ANT 0 COM 55 GEM 0 HYD 2 MON
0 PUP 2 SPO 59 TOTAL
0830-0930 UT 1.00 6.34 1 ANT 0 COM 48 GEM 0 HYD 1 MON
1 PUP 5 SPO 56 TOTAL
0930-1030 UT 1.00 6.44 0 ANT 1 COM 50 GEM 0 HYD 1 MON
1 PUP 6 SPO 59 TOTAL
1030-1130 UT 1.00 6.46 0 ANT 3 COM 30 GEM 0 HYD 1 MON
0 PUP 3 SPO 37 TOTAL
1130-1230 UT 1.00 6.23 0 ANT 0 COM 24 GEM 1 HYD 1 MON
0 PUP 2 SPO 28 TOTAL
TOTALS: 6.00 6.33 2 ANT 4 COM 286 GEM 2 HYD
9 MON 2 PUP 29 SPO
334 TOTAL METEORS
The first column gives the period watched in Universal Time (UT)
which is PST + 8 hours. The second column gives the percent of that
particular hour actually spent observing the sky (1.00 = 100%, 0.99
= 99%). Time is lost for breaks and plotting. I was recording data on a
cassette recorder tonight so each hour was a full sixty minutes of
observing. No breaks other were taken as I was able to take the
recorder with me as I occasionally stood up and stretched. The third
column gives the average limiting magnitude estimated during each
period. The last several columns list the activity for expected active
radiants during each period. Quite often no activity is observed and
rates equal zero. Tonight I was facing south with my field of view
centered at 50 degrees altitude. ANT = Antihelion radiant (Xi Orionids),
COM = Coma Berenicids, GEM = Geminids, HYD = Sigma Hydrids,
MON = Monocerotids, PUP = Puppid/Velids and SPO = Sporadics
(random activity).
Location: Descanso 116 37' 35" W 32 50' 18" N Elevation 1020m
Bortle Scale Estimate: Class 3: Rural Site
Beginning Temperature/Relative Humidity: 55 F (13 C) 50%
Ending " " " 57 F (14 C) 44%
MAGNITUDES OF INDIVIDUAL METEORS PER RADIANT:
ANT: -4 (0) +1 (0) +2 (0) +3 (1) +4 (1) +5 (0) AVG: +3.50
COM 0 (0) +1 (0) +2 (2) +3 (2) +4 (0) +5 (0) AVG: +2.50
GEM: -10 (1) -6 (2) -5 (1) -4 (4) -3 (2) -2 (10) -1 (19) 0 (36)
+1 (68) +2 (64) +3 (45) +4 (29) +5 (5) AVG: +1.34
HYD: 0 (0) +1 (0) +2 (0) +3 (2) +4 (0) +5 (0) AVG: +3.00
MON: 0 (0) +1 (0) +2 (2) +3 (1) +4 (6) +5 (0) AVG: +3.44
PUP: 0 (0) +1 (0) +2 (0) +3 (1) +4 (1) +5 (0) AVG: +3.50
SPO: -2 (0) -1 (1) 0 (2) +1 (5) +2 (2) +3 (9)
+4 (7) +5 (3) +6 (0) AVG: +2.69
GEMINID RATES IN 5 MINUTE BINS AND MAGNITUDES
XXXX-XXXX should read XXXX through XXXX produced:
UT Time
0630-0634 6 GEMINIDS -2, 3, 4 (3), 5
0635-0639 8 -4, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4
0640-0644 6 -3, 3 (2), 4 (2), 5
0645-0649 11 -3, -2, -1, 0, 2 (3), 3 (2), 4 (2)
0650-0654 4 0, 1, 2, 4
0655-0659 8 -1, 0 (2), 1, 2 (3), 3
0700-0704 5 -1, 1, 3 (2), 4
0705-0709 4 0, 2 (3)
0710-0714 6 0 (3), 1, 2 (2)
0715-0719 0
0720-0724 14 -10, -2, -1, 0 (2), 1 (3), 2, 3 (3), 4 (2)
0725-0729 6 1, 2, 3, 4 (2), 5
0730-0734 6 0 (2), 2, 3 (2), 4
0735-0739 3 1 (2), 4
0740-0744 4 -1, 0, 2, 3
0745-0749 5 -6, -1, 1, 2, 3
0750-0754 6 -5, 0 (2), 1 (2) 2
0755-0759 1 2
0800-0804 5 3, 4 (4)
0805-0809 4 -1, 0, 1 (2)
0810-0814 4 1 (2), 3 (3)
0815-0819 7 1 (4), 2 (3)
0820-0824 5 0, 1, 2 (2), 4
0825-0829 5 -5, 1, 2 (3)
0830-0834 3 -2, 1, 2
0835-0839 4 0 (2), 2, 4
0840-0844 7 -4, 1 (2), 3 (4)
0845-0849 2 1 (2)
0850-0854 3 1, 2, 3
0855-0859 1 -2
0900-0904 6 1 (3), 2 (2), 3
0905-0909 4 -1, 1, 2 (2)
0910-0914 4 -1, 0 (2), 1
0915-0919 5 2 (2), 3 (2), 4
0920-0924 4 1 (2), 2 (2)
0925-0929 5 -1, 0, 1, 2, 3
0930-0934 3 3, 4 (2)
0935-0939 6 0, 1, 2 (2), 3, 4
0940-0944 6 -2, -1, 1 (2), 2, 4
0945-0949 5 -4, -2, 2, 3, 4
0950-0954 8 -1, 0, 1 (3), 2, 4, 5
0955-0959 3 -1 (2), 2
1000-1004 0
1005-1009 1 -2
1010-1014 7 1 (2), 2 (4), 3
1015-1019 2 -6, 2
1020-1024 1 3
1025-1029 8 0 (3), 1, 3 (2), 4 (2)
1030-1034 0
1035-1039 1 1
1040-1044 5 0, 1 (2), 2, 3
1045-1049 2 -1, 2
1050-1054 8 1 (4), 2 (2), 3 (2),
1055-1059 1 1
1100-1104 3 1 (2), 2
1105-1109 0
1110-1114 4 1, 2 (2), 4
1115-1119 2 -4, 4
1120-1124 3 0, 1, 2
1125-1129 1 0
1130-1134 2 -1, 2
1135-1139 4 -1, 0, 1, 3
1140-1144 3 -1, 1, 4
1145-1149 2 0, 1
1150-1154 3 -1, 0, 3
1155-1159 1 2
1200-1204 4 -2, 1, 2 (2)
1205-1209 3 0, 1 (2)
1210-1214 0
1215-1219 0
1220-1224 0
1225-1229 2 2, 3
Bob Lunsford
San Diego, CA USA
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