(meteorobs) Bootid obs, Sharon Massachusetts, June 23/24

Richard Kramer kramer at sria.com
Thu Jun 24 00:22:02 EDT 2004


With dewpoint in the low 40's I would have hoped for better than the barely 
4 LM, even here in the midst of the east coast megalopolis.

Fireflies remain active in the treetops.

A serene, comfortably cool hour + of observation yielded 3 sporadics and my 
second ever Bootid along with 3 satellites, myriad airplanes, and one 
single mosquito (now deceased). 2 of the sporadics left brief, but long, 
green traces. Two were very fast and the third, travelling some 30 degrees 
from N to S along the meridian, was fast.

The single Bootid was memorable. At first I thought I was looking at 
another high declination satellite. But next, I noticed an extremely tiny, 
barely visible trail. I first spotted it just SE of the end of the Big 
Dipper's handle. It headed NE roughly parallel to the handle at a very 
leisurely pace. It was visible for about 6 seconds, perhaps a bit more 
since, when I first noticed it, it was at the edge of my field and I had to 
turn my head to follow it. At first it was a steady magnitude 2 and didn't 
show any distinct color. After about 4 seconds it flared to mag -1 and 
showed an incredibly beautiful sunflower yellow for about a second before 
flaring out to invisibility during the final 1/2 second or so. In all, I 
watched it traverse about 20 degrees. It left me with the impression that I 
had seen some sort of ballet. Track and speed leave little doubt that it 
was a Bootid.

---------
Richard Kramer Sharon MA USA
71 deg 10.87 min W   42 deg 6.53 min N  Elev 220 ft

EDT 22:30 23 Jun to 23:35 23 June
UTC 02:30 24 Jun to 03:35 24 June

Shower observed June Bootids  JBO

24 June 2004
UTC              Teff   LM    JBO    SPO    Total
02:30 - 03:00    0.48   3.5     0     2       2
03:00 - 03:35    0.55    4      1     1       2

Magnitude Distributions
           -1  0  1   2   3   4
JBO       .5  0  0  .5   0   0
SPO        0  0  1   1   1   0

Notes:
1. Sky clear
2. 10% obstruction by trees on NW perhiphery
3. Center of view just south of Corona Borealis
4. Temp 65F decreasing to 62F, winds very light and variable



More information about the Meteorobs mailing list