(meteorobs) Geminids video results from Dec. 13/14, partially reduced

Daniel Fischer dfischer at astro.uni-bonn.de
Sun Dec 19 12:24:03 EST 2004


Here is, finally, a little analysis of 3 hours of video recording
during the Geminds 2004 maximum night (actually a few hours
after the peak, as it has turned out), in the morning of Dec. 14. I
used a Mintron with a 6 mm f/0.8 lens and x8 integration, the site
was in Koenigswinter (western Germany) and the conditions were
excellent.

In total about 70 meteors were recorded, most of them Geminids.
The maximum number of (probable) Geminids per 10-minute
interval was 7, the minimum number 1; there were four pairs of
Geminids in rapid succession (in which the intervals between the
meteors were 3, 4, 6 and 8 seconds), while the longest interval
without any meteor lasted for15 minutes (2:03-2:18 UTC).

Here are two lists/graphical representations (must be viewed with
a non-proportional font) of what one could call the EVZHR
(effective video zenithal hourly rate): The 10-minute counts were
multiplied by 6 and divided by the sinus of the radiant elevation.
First, there are 20-minute averages, i.e. 1:00 means 0:50-1:10 UTC:

0:40   32   ****************
1:00   19   **********
1:20   29   ***************
1:40   22   ***********
2:00   22   ***********
2:20   13   *******
2:40   20   **********
3:00   20   **********
3:20   31   ****************
3:40   29   ***************

And here you see 30-minute averages, calculated every 10
minutes (thus 1:15 means 1:00-1:30 UTC), so that a sliding mean
with a box averaging function is produced:

0:45   31   ****************
0:55   24   ************
1:05   19   **********
1:15   30   ***************
1:25   27   *************
1:35   27   *************
1:45   30   ***************
1:55   21   ***********
2:05   21   ***********
2:15   17   *********
2:25   17   *********
2:35   15   ********
2:45   25   *************
2:55   18   *********
3:05   18   *********
3:15   23   ************
3:25   30   ***************
3:35   36   ******************
3:45   29   ***************

It would be great to have the IMO visual average ZHRs for the same
interval and with similar temporal resolution: Are we only seeing
statistical fluctuations or are there some real features (e.g. the dip
around 2:30 UTC)? The visual data from the DMS expedition just released
today should go a long way already. And I would also like to calibrate
my VZHR against the visual ZHR for the given optics and this as well as
other showers: It seems to be about 3 to 4 times lower than the
visual ZHR.

Daniel Fischer


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