(meteorobs) Geminid Peak in the Everglades [GRALE 2005 Dec 13/14 Summary]

[Lew Gramer]

We enjoyed yet another fine night of meteors at Pa-hay-okee Lookout in the 
Everglades two nights ago, Dec 13/14, from 03:15 UT to 06:50 UT.

The temperatures were just slightly warmer than the night before (dropping 
from around 60 to 57oF), and the wind was a bit steadier (variable out of the 
N and W at 5-10 kts). Mosquitoes were just a very occasional nuisance. A mix 
of cirrus and cirrocumulus came and went in our Northern sky all night long, 
but never interfered with our observing to the South.

Mike Smith recorded with me for the first time, and picked up the basics of 
the IMO technique with little effort - recording his own meteor magnitudes, 
showers, and Limiting Magnitude star counts for about 2 hours! Mike, enter 
your data into an email and send it to me this week, and I can help you put 
together a summary report of what you saw.


The highlight of the night for me was at 06:18:50 UT, a very spiffy -4 
fireball, blue-green in color with a 0.5 sec train. It was medium speed, 
about 7 deg long, and seen just 15o from the Geminid radiant: so although it 
lined up perfectly with the radiant, I had to call it a "G?" on my log sheet. 
But whatever it was, it was lovely and memorable. :)

In total, I enjoyed THREE fireballs (-3 or -4) and FIFTEEN negative-magnitude 
meteors (i.e., brighter than Rigel or Betelgeuse) during the night, and Mike 
also caught many of these, I believe. The Geminids lived up to their bright 
"Old Faithful" reputation for me yet again this year...

Below is a summary report for me that night: be sure to view the tables with a 
fixed-width font, so that the columns line up properly. Complete report for 
both nights will go to IMO and NAMN separately.

Clear skies, all. Here's looking forward to the Ursids on 21-23 Dec!

Lew Gramer


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NAMN Meteor Summary: 2005 Dec 13/14
Observer: GRALE (Lew Gramer)
Location: Pa-hay-okee Lookout, Everglades National Park, FL USA
Coordinates: 25o22.5'N, 80o45.0'W, 1m elev

TENTATIVE SUMMARY (Subject to final revision):

UT Period    FOV    Teff  F   LM   GEM XOR MON PUP HYD SPO
03:15-04:19  060+10 1.00  1.0 5.7   29  3   1   0   1    5
04:20-05:28  080+10 1.00  1.0 6.0   43  0   1   1   1   10
05:29-06:36  110+10 1.01  1.0 6.2   36  1   1   0   5   13
06:37-06:50  130+20 0.20  1.0 6.3    6  0   0   0   0    1

Total/Average:      3.21  1.0 6.1  114  4   3   1   7   29

Total Meteors: 158

Dead time / meteor: 2 sec
Total Break Time: 12 min

Magnitude Distribution:
[To follow]

Train Data:
[To follow]

REMARKS:
I recorded no constellations or DCVs (Distance from Center of
 Vision) tonight, in order to reduce the dead time per meteor.
Mike Smith also recorded with me using the IMO method tonight.
==
Once again, the natural beauty of the Everglades in moonlight and
 wind was an enchanting backdrop for the light show in the sky.
Meteor highlight of the night for me was a -4 probable Geminid with
 a 0.5 sec. persistent train, 7o long seen in Gemini starting just
 15o from the radiant at 06:18:50 UT. Other highlights, four meteors
 negative magnitude within TWO MINUTES, 03:44 and 03:45 UT; and two
 other Geminid fireballs mag -3 seen at 04:39:05 and 04:48:35 UT.

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