(meteorobs) Orionids in bright Moon light

[bmccurdy at telusplanet.net]

   I observed for three hours on the morning of October 21, divided roughly 
evenly among the three M's -- Mars, Moon, and meteors. While a beautiful sight 
in its own right, the Moon was major hindrance, not only being a brightly 
gibbous Hunter's Moon but an exceptionally high declination one as well -- it 
was near the star El Nath (beta Tauri, the bottom of Auriga's pentagon), and 
crested near the maximum possible +29° on the 22nd. Ominously, during my two 
hours of telescopic observing, I didn't spot any "accidental" meteors either 
in the eyepiece or in between times.  

   With dark skies being a practical impossibility, I spent an hour on my back 
deck starting just after 3 a.m. local time (9h UT, the putative peak of the 
shower). Limiting magnitude was 4.0 at best, and lying flat on my back the 
Moon was impossible to escape no matter what direction I faced. (Next time 
I'll try that umbrella idea!) I waited a full half hour with no meteors, then 
got two within about half a minute, both in Camelopardalis. The second was 
particularly nice, right in my direct vision, about mag -1, brief train. This 
was followed by another half hour of nothing.

   This fall marks my 20th anniversary as a serious observer, beginning with 
observations of Comet Halley in 1985. So while this observing session was of 
no scientific value, it nonetheless brought me great pleasure to see the fiery 
demise of a couple of remnants from that famous comet. It gave me pause to 
consider how far these particles had strayed from their parent, now well on 
its way to aphelion, and to ponder anew the dynamics of a well-established 
meteoroid stream. 

   Bruce