(meteorobs) Fw: Meteor Photography Question

Mon Feb 13 18:58:39 EST 2006

I received the email below a couple days ago and was unable to help Dave 
out. If anyone has additional information that he might find useful, please 
email him directly at david.hollinberger at navy.mil

Thanks!

Mark Davis, South Carolina, USA
meteors at comcast.net
namn at namnmeteors.org

North American Meteor Network (NAMN)
http://www.namnmeteors.org/

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Hollinberger, David NAVSEA" <david.hollinberger at navy.mil>
To: "Mark Davis" <meteors at comcast.net>
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 3:24 PM
Subject: RE: NAMN Notes: February 2006

Mark,
1. Do you know of any current resources discussing meteor imagaing with
digital still cameras and digital video cameras? The detailed material on
the IMO on photography and video is good but is from the mid 90's time frame
and covers film and analog video.

Thanks

Dave Hollinberger
Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane
Code 6074 Air Devices Branch Bldg 2037
300 Hwy 361
Crane, IN 47522-5001
(812)854-4466 Phone (812)854-3573 Fax
david.hollinberger at navy.mil

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Davis [mailto:meteors at comcast.net]
Sent: Saturday, February 04, 2006 6:48
To: NAMN
Subject: NAMN Notes: February 2006

**************************
NAMN Notes:  February 2006
**************************

Introduction:
NAMN Notes is a monthly newsletter produced by the North American Meteor
Network, and is available both via email, and on the NAMN website at:
http://www.namnmeteors.org

Contents:

1.  February - The Doldrums of Winter...
2.  Alpha-Centaurids, a Southern Alert...
3.  Other February Activity...
4.  Upcoming Meetings...
5.  For more info...

1.  February - The Doldrums of Winter...

Welcome to February!  It is now the dead of winter for those of us in
northeastern North America, and we are yearning for clear skies.  We have
had warmer than normal temperatures for some time now - and lots of cloud.
Traditionally, clear skies up here mean about -20C.  This winter, some days
were so mild you didn't even need a winter coat.

However, it's a great time of year to dream about summer, and southern
latitudes, and observing projects to have fun with once you see the stars
again.

Have you printed yourself off a copy of the International Meteor
Organization's 2006 Meteor Shower Calendar yet?  It's free, just print it
off from http://www.imo.net/calendar/2006

Go cruising around the IMO website at http://www.imo.net.  There are
sections on many different types of observing - visual, telescopic,
photographic, video and radio.  Need a change this year?  Check out a
different way to observe meteors - and still help out the researchers.

Want to meet some of the meteor observers from around the globe and get an
interesting vacation as well?  The IMO is holding its annual get-together in
the Netherlands this coming September.  Specific details will be on the IMO
website once they become available.  Take a trip to Europe... and take in
some science and some camaraderie while you're at it.

Need some ideas on something completely different?  Go cruising through the
meteor/meteorite/comet/impact links at http://www.snark.org/sb.htm.  For
endless cloudy nights, it's a cool site.

February won't last forever - or so the ground hogs tell us.  I wonder if
it's only North Americans who believe in telling when spring will come by
the behavior of small rodents...

Clear skies to all!

2.  Alpha-Centaurids, a Southern Alert...

The alpha Centaurids (ACE) peak on February 8th this year, and can be seen
through until about February 21st.  These are fast meteors, with a velocity
of about 56 km per second.  ZHR rates are variable.  The rates are usually
about 6 meteors per hour, but outbursts of 20 to 30 per hour have occurred.
Many of the alpha Centaurids are very bright, even fireballs.

For new observers, ZHR refers to Zenithal Hourly Rate, and is the average
number of meteors that an observer would expect to see in an hour, if they
are out under dark country skies, and if the radiant, the area in the sky
where the meteors seem to come from, is directly overhead, at the zenith.

This is primarily a southern shower though, with a radiant location of
about -59 degrees on a star map, about 50 degrees south of the bright star
Spica in Virgo.  Check out a map on the website of the IMO at
http://www.imo.net/calendar/2005/winter

All observers in southern latitudes are encouraged to get out and gather
observations of this shower.  The IMO writes:  "As with many southern
hemisphere sources, we have more questions than answers at present, nor do
we have any means of telling when, or if, another stronger event might
happen.  Thus photographic, video and visual observers are urged to be
alert..."

3.  Other February Activity...

Although not on the official IMO 'Working List of Visual Meteor Showers', a
watch should be kept for any possible xi Bootids. These were first seen by
observer George Gliba from February 5/6 to 8/9 in 1997 from the Florida
Keys.  These were noted as medium velocity meteors, with an average
magnitude of about 3.6 and a radiant near the star xi Bootes.  Xi Bootis is
about 8 degrees to the left of the star Arcturus on a star map.

The delta Leonids (DLE) peak on February 24th, and can be seen from about
February 15th to March 10th.  These are slow meteors, at about 23 km per
second, so will be quite distinctive.  ZHR rates at the peak will be about 2
meteors per hour.  The radiant will be very close to the star theta Leonis,
the lower right star in the triangle at the end of Leo.  For a map, check
out http://www.imo.net/calendar/2006/winter

The gamma Normids (GNO) start to become active about February 25th, although
won't reach a maximum until about March 13th.  These are fast meteors, with
a velocity of about 56 km per second.  ZHR rates at maximum will be about 8
meteors per hour, but rates in February will be lower.  With a radiant about
30 degrees south of the top of the 'J' of Scorpius, this is primarily a
southern shower.  A map showing the radiant can be found at
http://www.imo.net/calendar/2005/winter

The Virginids (VIR) started to become active about January 25th, and last
until about April 15th.  These are almost slow meteors, at about 30 km per
second.  ZHR rates are about 5 meteors per hour.  On January 30th, the
radiant was at 157 degrees, ie. RA 10h 28.2m, Dec +16, which was about 6
degrees up to the left of Regulus in Leo on a star atlas.  The radiant moves
throughout the month of February - positions at intervals are as follows:
Feb. 10  165 +10   ie. RA 11h 00m  Dec +10
Feb. 20  172   +6   ie. RA 11h 28.2m  Dec +6
Feb. 28  178   +3   ie. RA 11h 52.2m  Dec +3

For other minor showers not on the IMO's 'Working List of Visual Meteor
Showers', and for a wealth of historical information on all showers, check
out Gary Kronk's 'Comets and Meteor Showers' website at
http://comets.amsmeteors.org

Besides February's main activity and other minor showers, there is also
sporadic meteor activity.  This sporadic meteor activity is about 7 meteors
per hour visible to the unaided eye.  Some of these are random, and some
belong to old untraceable meteor showers.

If you want to record visual data for the meteor researchers,
check out our NAMN Observing Guide for information on what to record.  Our
Guide can be found at http://www.namnmeteors.org/guide.html.  We record such
info as the time a meteor occurred, its magnitude (brightness), the shower
it belongs to, its speed, and other comments such as train left behind, or
color.  General information to record includes such things as how dark your
perceived sky is (limiting magnitude), and comments on weather and cloud
cover.  If you have any questions, drop a note to our NAMN Coordinator at
meteors at comcast.net

NAMN has some good star charts to mark your radiants on before you go
out observing.  These charts also show constellations for the whole sky and
give the brightness of a number of stars to use in judging the magnitude of
the meteors you see.  Our 4 printable charts can be found at
http://www.namnmeteors.org/charts.html.  Set your printer to 'landscape'
mode.

Forms to record your observations can be found at
http://www.namnmeteors.org/namn_form.html and
http://www.namnmeteors.org/appendixC.html

Planets at midmonth, and their magnitudes, for northern observers, are:
Venus      -4.5  very low in east-southeast morning twilight
Jupiter    -2.1  in Libra
Mercury    -1.1  very low in west-southwest evening twilight
Saturn     -0.2  in Cancer
Mars        0.4  in Taurus
For a sky chart showing the positions of all the planets visible this month,
go to http://www.heavens-above.com, select your country, then your city, and
go to 'Whole Sky Chart'.  On February 6th, the moon will be 0.1 degree north
of the Pleiades star cluster.  On the 16th, Mars will be 2 degrees south of
the Pleiades.

There are several interesting occultations this month.  On the 18th, the
bright star Spica will be 0.4 degrees south of the moon, with an occultation
visible from extreme eastern North America, and central Africa.  On the
21st, the star Antares will be 0.2 degrees north of the moon, with an
occultation visible from Indonesia, Australia except the northeast, and New
Zealand.  And lastly, on February 25th, the asteroid Ceres will be 0.8
degrees north of the moon, with an occultation visible from the tip of South
America, and Antarctica.  (An occultation of Ceres would be really cool to
watch, in more ways than one!)

The phases of the moon for February are as follows:
Sun.  Feb.  5   first quarter
Mon.  Feb. 13   full moon
Tues. Feb. 21   last quarter
Tues. Feb. 28   new moon
For a great printout of moon phases for the month, check out
http://stardate.org/nightsky/moon.

4.  Upcoming Meetings...

June 8-14, 2006, Ostersund, Sweden...
The Workshop on Impact Craters as Indicators for Planetary Environmental
Evolution and Astrobiology will be held in Ostersund, Sweden.  Sessions
include terrestrial craters, craters on other planetary bodies, the
influences of the impact on the target area, the target area on the fate of
the projectile, and the properties of the impactor on the cratering process,
other consequences (eg. tsunamis), environments created by the impact and
their importance for life, and astrobiological aspects of impact cratering.
There will be two study field trips to the Lockne Crater, and an excursion
to the GeoCenter-Lockne Impact Crater Museum.  For information, check out
the website at http://www.geo.su.se/Lockne2006 and contact Dr. Jens Ormo of
the Planetary Geology Laboratory, CSIC/INTA, Madrid, Spain at ormo at inta.es

July 10-14, 2006, Singapore...
The AOGS, Asia Oceania Geosciences Society, will hold its 3rd Annual Meeting
in Singapore.  Jeremie Vaubaillon has advised us that there will be a
special session on the field of meteor science.  Topics covered at the
conference are quite varied - invited speakers include G. Consolmagno of the
Vatican Observatory on 'Evidence from Meteorites', Cheng Fang of Nanjing
University on 'Spectroscopic Approaches to Solar Flares:  A Review', Paul
Jones of the Australia Telescope National Facility on 'Radio Observations
from Australia of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 for Deep Impact', and Dave Anderson of
NOAA on 'Solar Activity and Indian Monsoons'.  The deadline for abstract
submission is February 15th.  The deadline for reduced fees for registration
is May 15th.  For information, check out the website at
http://www.asiaoceania-conference.org and contact
info at asiaoceania-conference.org

For information on upcoming astronomy meetings, see: "International
Astronomy Meetings List" at http://cadcwww.hia.nrc.ca/meetings

5.  For more info...

NAMN email: namn at namnmeteors.org
NAMN website: http://www.namnmeteors.org

Mark Davis, meteors at comcast.net
Goose Creek, South Carolina, USA
Coordinator, North American Meteor Network

Cathy Hall, chall at cyberus.ca
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Writer, NAMN Notes

Lew Gramer, dedalus at alum.mit.edu
Homestead, Florida, USA
Coordinator, Public Outreach
Owner/Moderator, 'MeteorObs'

Kevin Kilkenny, namnfireball at earthlink.net
Staten Island, New York, USA
Coordinator, Fireballs and Meteorites

Back issues of NAMN Notes can be found online at the NAMN website and in
the MeteorObs archives at:
http://www.meteorobs.org by selecting 'Browse Archive by Month'

To subscribe to the meteor email list:
Contact Lew Gramer at: dedalus at alum.mit.edu

==============================================
Here's to 'Clear Skies' for February...

February 2006 NAMN Notes
written by Cathy Hall & edited by Mark Davis
==============================================