(meteorobs) Observation October 7/8 2004

[Pierre Martin]

Hi!

Here's my formal report for the Thursday evening October 7...

I observed for Giacobinids for over 4 hours effective time.  The skies 
were affected by varying amounts of thin cirrus clouds in the field of 
view.  During the clearest moments, the limit mag averaged at 6.1.  It 
was a very comfortable evening to observe, with mild temperatures to 
help make up for the reduced transparency.

The meteor rates were very slow during the first and second hours.  The 
meteors finally picked up near the end, and got more productive.

I'm pleased to say that out of the 24 meteors, I recorded one definite 
Giacobinid!!!  It was a 2nd magnitude slow meteor that flew high up 
into Cygnus.

The only other highlight worth mentioning was a beautiful golden 
colored mag 0 sporadic at 10:24pm EDT that moved slowly and was 
followed by a thick wake.

Clear skies,

Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario



DATE: October 7/8 2004
BEGIN: 2355 UT (1955 EDT)  END: 0505 UT (0105 EDT)
OBSERVER: Pierre Martin (MARPI)
LOCATION: Long: -75.063 West; Lat: 45.269 North  Elevation: 400 ft
City & Province: Boundary road, Ontario, CANADA
RECORDING METHOD: talking clock/tape recorder, plotting
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

OBSERVED SHOWERS:_____________________________________radiant position
		GIA (Giacobinids)______________________________17:28 +54
		ANT (antihelions or Taurids)___________________01:40 +10
		ORI (Orionids)_________________________________05:28 +13
		NPX (sporadics from north apex)________________06:40 +38
		SPX (sporadics from south apex)________________06:40 +08
		SPO (random sporadics)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

OBSERVING PERIODS: 0 = none seen;  / = shower not observed

PERIOD(UT)_FIELD____Teff__LM____GIA_ANT_ORI_NPX_SPX_SPO

2355-0055__2047+80__1.00__6.09___0___0___/___/___/___3
0055-0156__2047+80__1.01__6.08___1___0___/___/___/___2
0156-0310__2308+75__1.23__6.07___0___2___/___/___/___5
0335-0505__2339+74__1.38__6.20___0___2___0___1___/___8

TOTALS:_____________4.62_________1___4___0___1___/___18 = 24

The first column (Period UT) refers to observing periods broken down as 
close as possible to one hour of true observing, in Universal Time. The 
second column (Field) is the area in in the sky where I centered my 
field of view. The third column (TEFF) represents effective observing 
time (corrected for breaks or any time I did not spent looking at the 
sky).  The next column (LM) is the average naked eye limiting 
magnitude, determined by triangle star counts. All following columns 
indicate the number of meteors for each shower observed.
------------------------

MAGNITUDE DISTRIBUTIONS:

SHOWER
________0__+1__+2__+3__+4__+5______AVE

SPO_____2___0___5___4___6___2_____+2.95
ANT_____0___0___0___0___4___0_____+4.00
GIA_____0___0___1___0___0___0_____+2.00

Note: Magnitude scale is to determine the brightness of sky objects. 
Magnitude -8 is comparable to a quarter moon, magnitude -4 with the 
planet Venus, magnitude -1 with the brightest star Sirius, magnitude +2 
to +3 with most average naked eye stars and magnitude +6 to +7 are the 
faintest stars the naked eye can see under typical dark conditions. A 
meteor of at least magnitude -3 is considered a fireball.  The above 
table contains the magnitudes from all observed meteors, and the 
average (last column) for showers.

------------------------

SKY OBSCURED (FOV):

10% from 00:22-0056
5% from 0056-0100
10% from 0131-0207

F value for period 2355-0055 = 1.05
F value for period 0055-0156 = 1.05
F value for period 0156-0310 = 1.03

------------------------

Dead time: 8.16 min (including 0.5 min for plots)

Breaks (UT): 0053 (20sec), 0215 (20sec), 0310-0335, 0354-0400, 0428-0429

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