(meteorobs) Puppid-Velid

[bmccurdy at telusplanet.net]

   Sorry for the aborted (non) reply. Pierre Martin wrote:

> The highlight was without doubt my first-ever Puppid-Velid !!  And  
> what a meteor it was!!!  With this radiant at -45 degrees in  
> declination, it reaches, at best, less than one degree above the  
> horizon as it crosses the meridien.  So, it was quite a surprise for  
> me to see one of these rare meteors come up!  At 3:20am EST , it  
> appeared in the form of a spectacular earthgrazer that slowly crawled  
> its way up and along the south-west horizon, from southern Canis  
> Major all the way to the bright star Rigel in Orion.  The flight  
> lasted a good 6 seconds, which seemed like an eternity, and it  
> allowed me to turn my head and have a good look at it.  It was pure  
> white in appearance, and had a sharp wake following behind.  The  
> meteor gradually swelled up to mag -3, and its "head" looked like a  
> disk before gracefully vanishing away.  This was one of the most  
> beautiful meteors that I've seen this year!

   Thanks for the great report, Pierre, and congrats on such a rare catch! 

   You say that "at best" the Puppid-Velid radiant gets a degree above your
horizon. How close was the radiant to your local meridian at 3:20 a.m. on Dec.
8? Have you calculated the radiant's actual location at the time of your obs?  

   Bruce