(meteorobs) Binocular meteors

[Malcolm J. Currie]

The better the limiting magnitude, the greater the number of telescopic
meteors are visible compared with the viual rates.  That's because of
the restricted apparent field of view means the telescopic observer sees
an higher proportion of apparently fainter meteors, which are more
susceptible to poor conditions.

There were predictions that the Leonid display would be rich in faint
meteors.  Sadly I had to deputise at a business meeting, and was unable
to observe on Nov. 19 when skies cleared near dawn after snow the
previous night.

> nov (16th UT) and 20th (19th UT). On both occasions we noticed an
> amazing amount of faint meteors shooting through the binocular views,
> while it is very normal too see a lot of faint meteors shoot through
> the field of view, this would of easily been double the usual amount we
> would see. It seemed we couldnt put the binos to our eyes and look up,
> without instantly getting one zip through.

Why don't you try plotting them on charts on a regular basis?  We
telescopic observers are thin on the ground, and AFAIK non-existent in
the southern hemisphere.

We do have some charts online and I'm going to scan some more. For small
binoculars, star atlases which go to +9, like Uranometria, can be used,
or even print something using a planetarium/starchart package, as the
IMO charts don't extend far to the south.

>   And the rates were no different in the smaller binos (8x56) than the
> large binos (25x100) As for directions of source, some could of been
> Leonids, really wasnt thinking about it at the time, but certainly some
> could definitely of been.

Malcolm Currie