(meteorobs) 2006 Geminids from Edmonton (Part Two)

Bruce McCurdy bmccurdy at telusplanet.net
Sun Dec 17 14:37:47 EST 2006


    Sometimes luck wins out over skill, but it's best to have both on your 
side. It's my good luck to have a skilled meteorologist as an observing 
buddy. Despite what appeared to my decidedly unskilled eye to be a hopeless 
forecast -- on three different websites -- for the night of the Geminid 
peak, my own private "weather god" Alister Ling picked me up at the 
appointed time and headed west of the city and away from our preferred 
observing site in the Beaver Hills Dark Sky Preserve. He had predicted 
clearing from the west so we headed for a decent rural site we had used 
during the Orionid shower. Sure enough, by the time we got close the clouds 
had thinned and the stars were popping out. And they stayed out for the 
duration, under a stationary hole which had been Alister's best-case 
scenario. That's what I call putting the "meteor" in "meteorology".

    The skies were somewhat variable to say the least, but over the course 
of five hours Teff averaged somewhere around LM 5.5. Plenty good enough for 
the Geminids to put on a very nice show. I averaged 45 Geminids per hour, 
and while there were no repeats of the Emerald Gem of the previous night, as 
a group they were pretty bright, averaging mag 1.8. About 10% were negative 
magnitudes and 40% 1st mag or better. I also averaged 10 "others" per hour, 
mostly sporadics but a few from each of the other active showers; these ones 
averaged mag 2.1, as the conditions limited the numbers of faint meteors 
seen.

    I won't list the (very long) blow-by-blow account here, although it is 
available off-list to anybody who can use that sort of thing. Instead, I 
have summarized below, per hour and per 15-minute bin. Among the highlights 
were something I described as a "ghost meteor" seen through (thankfully 
temporary) cloud cover -- interesting in light of Dave English's use of the 
word "ghostly" on meteorobs a day or two later; a few outbursts of activity 
including a pair of simultaneous meteors; a sporadic that seemed to split in 
two like a resolved jet contrail; and several Geminids at the red end of the 
spectrum variously described on my tape as yellowish, coppery, golden, 
golden-orange, orange, purple, and topaz (now *that* was a real Gem!). I 
recorded 10 with persistent trains and another 10 with a significant wake of 
close to a second. Once again, some 20% of my observed meteors were 
accompanied by a simultaneous radio burst. (I also have had my Northern Claw 
Radio Meteor Observatory going at home the last few days, but haven't had a 
chance to transcribe the results as yet.)

    I feel very fortunate to have gotten two nights of Orionids, two nights 
of Leonids, and two nights of Geminids during the past three dark sky 
windows. For much of that time the skies have been pretty darn cloudy, so I 
guess I should count my lucky stars. And the weather gods.

    Bruce
    *****

Date: 2006 December 14 06:45-12:05 UT (MST 2006 December 13-14 
 23:45 -05:05) Teff 5.00 hours
Observer: Bruce McCurdy
Site: Township Road 540, ~50 km west of Edmonton, Alberta
(53°39'27" N, 114° 17m 47s W, elevation 762 metres)
Primary method: Visual; microcassette recorder and talking watch;
Secondary method: Audio; monitoring by car FM radio for forward scattering
(FM 92.1)

Observing Summary:
---------------------------

6:45 - 12:05 UT (minus 10:45-11:05); Avg. LM 5.5
224 GEM: -3, -2 (4), -1(16), 0 (29), +1(38), +2(53), +3(45), +4(30), +5 (8)
4 ANT: 0, +1, +3 (2)
2 MON: 0, +3
5 HYD: +1, +2, +3 (3)
3 COM: +2, +3 (2)
35 Spor: -2, -1 (2), 0 (2), +1 (8), +2 (6), +3 (10), +4 (4), +5 (2)
Total meteors: Two hundred seventy-three
***

By one-hour interval
---------------------------

6:45-7:44 UT; Avg. LM 4.8
31 GEM: -1 (3), 0 (8), +1 (6), +2 (7), +3 (4), +4 (3)
1 MON: +3
1 COM: +3
6 Spor: +1, +2 (2), +3, +4, +5
Total meteors: thirty-nine

7:45-8:44 UT; Avg. LM 5.1
47 GEM: -3, -2, -1, 0 (8), +1 (11), +2 (9), +3 (8), +4 (7), +5
3 HYD: +1, +3 (2)
4 Spor: -2, +3 (3)
Total meteors: fifty-four

8:45-9:44 UT; Avg. LM 5.9
46 GEM: -2, -1 (4), 0 (3), +1 (4), +2 (9), +3 (13), +4 (10), +5 (2)
2 ANT: 0, +3
1 MON: 0
1 COM: +3
12 Spor: 0 (2), +1 (2), +2, +3 (3), +4 (3), +5
Total meteors: sixty-two

9:45-10:44 UT; Avg. LM 5.6
41 GEM: -2 (2), -1 (3), 0 (5), +1 (6), +2 (12), +3 (6), +4 (6), +5
2 ANT: +1, +3
1 HYD: +2
5 Spor: +1 (2), +2 (2), +3
Total meteors: forty-nine

[21-minute break]

11:06-12:05 UT; Avg. LM 5.9
59 GEM: -1 (5), 0 (5), +1 (11), +2 (16), +3 (14), +4 (4), +5 (4)
1 HYD: +3
1 COM: +2
8 Spor: -1 (2), +1 (3), +2 (2), +3
Total meteors: sixty-nine
***

By 15-minute interval:
----------------------------

6:45-6:59 UT; Avg. LM 5.6
9 GEM: 0, +1 (3), +2 (2), +3 (2), +4
2 Spor: +2, +3
Total meteors: eleven

7:00-7:14 UT; Avg. LM 5.3
7 GEM: -1, +1, +2 (3), +4 (2)
1 MON: +3
1 COM: +3
3 Spor: +3, +4, +5
Total meteors: twelve

7:15-7:29 UT; Avg. LM 5.0
10 GEM: -1, 0 (6), +1, +3 (2)
1 Spor: +1
Total meteors: eleven

7:30-7:44 UT; Avg. LM 3.2
5 GEM: -1, 0, +1, +2 (2)
Total meteors: five

7:45-7:59 UT; Avg. LM 4.5
8 GEM: -1, 0 (3), +1 (2), +2, +4
1 HYD: +3
1 Spor: +3
Total meteors: ten

8:00-8:14 UT; Avg. LM 4.8
11 GEM: -3, 0 (3), +1 (3), +2 (2), +3, +4
Total meteors: eleven

8:15-8:29 UT; Avg. LM 5.2
16 GEM: 0, +1 (2), +2 (2), +3 (6), +4 (4), +5
2 HYD: +1, +3
2 Spor: -2, +3
Total meteors: twenty

8:30-8:44 UT; Avg. LM 5.9
12 GEM: -2, 0, +1 (4), +2 (4), +3, +4
1 Spor: +3
Total meteors: thirteen

8:45-8:59 UT; Avg. LM 6.0
11 GEM: -1, +1 (3), +2, +3 (3), +4 (2), +5
1 COM: +3

9:00-9:14 UT; Avg. LM 6.0
14 GEM: -2, -1 (2), +2 (4), +3 (4), +4 (2), +5
3 Spor: 0, +1, +3
Total meteors: seventeen

9:15-9:29 UT; Avg. LM 5.8
14 GEM: -1, 0 (2), +1, +2 (2), +3 (3), +4 (5)
2 ANT: 0, +3
1 MON: 0
4 Spor: 0, +3 (2), +5
Total meteors: twenty-one

9:30-9:44 UT; Avg. LM 5.7
7 GEM: 0, +2 (2), +3 (3), +4
5 Spor: +1, +2, +4 (3)
Total meteors: twelve

9:45-9:59 UT; Avg. LM 5.6
6 GEM: -2 (2), 0, +2, +4 (2)
1 Spor: +2
Total meteors: seven

10:00-10:14 UT; Avg. LM 5.6
10 GEM: 0, +1 (2), +2 (3), +3 (2), +4, +5
1 ANT: +3
1 HYD: +2
2 Spor: +1, +2

10:15-10:29 UT; Avg. LM 5.6
12 GEM: 0, +1 (3), +2 (3), +3 (3), +4 (2)
1 Spor: +3
Total meteors: thirteen

10:30-10:45 UT; Avg. LM 5.6
13 GEM: -1 (3), 0 (2), +1, +2 (5), +3, +4
1 ANT: +1
1 Spor: +1
Total meteors: fifteen

[21-minute break]


11:06-11:20 UT; Avg. LM 5.8
17 GEM: -1, 0 (3), +1 (5), +2 (3), +3 (3), +4, +5
3 Spor: +1 (2), +2
Total meteors: twenty

11:21-11:35 UT; Avg. LM 5.8
13 GEM: -1, +1 (2), +2 (6), +3 (3), +4
1 COM: +2
3 Spor: -1, +1, +2
Total meteors: seventeen

11:36-11:50 UT; Avg. LM 5.9
17 GEM: -1 (2), 0, +1 (2), +2 (5), +3 (3), +4 (2), +5 (2)
1 HYD: +3
2 Spor: -1, +3
Total meteors: twenty

11:51-12:05 UT; Avg. LM 5.9
12 GEM: -1, 0, +1 (2), +2 (2), +3 (5), +5
Total meteors: twelve
***
 




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