(meteorobs) Aurigid Laptop Observation Project

[Kim Hay]

meteors at eclipse.net wrote:

Hi Wayne, Chris & Richard,

I am more concerned on the dark sky adaptation. You go outside, get
adapted, turn on the computer, and boom- white light.  You may not be able
to pick up faint meteors.

Does the program have a red screen mode?  Without having downloding the
program, do you have to keep mouse pointing on one point?

I will download the program at home to take a look, but those who have
already downloaded, how does it work?

Can this program be used for other showers? Is this idea for the future?

Kim in Canada, who will also miss the aurigid peak


> Chris, One thing I don't see mentioned is that the time on your laptop
> must be accurate to within a second before starting, otherwise the times
> recorded by the program will be meaningless.
>
> This means the users MUST calibrate their laptop clock immediately before
> setting out to observe, as I have found such clock accuracy to be marginal
> at best. Even my desktop computer's clock drifts a few seconds per day.
> If a user has not cal'd their laptoip clock in a while, it could be off by
> many minutes.
>
> Please emphasize this, and suggest methods to time the laptop clock, or
> the data will be meaningless for constructing a 3D/4D picture of the
> event.
>
> I'd also feel better if there were a method to record meteor magnitude,
> and sky limiting magnitude conditions as well, otherwise reducing the data
> to a ZHR will be impossible.
>
> I am in NJ so it's a moot point for me, but I would hate to see this noble
> effort create useless data.
>
> Wayne
>
>> The first test of the Aurigid Laptop Meteor Observation Project,
>> using the Perseids, was successful and we now have everything in
>> place. All we need now is a group of willing observers. I'm sure that
>> everybody here who'll be in the western USA on September 1 will be
>> observing the Aurigids. I urgently request every one of those people
>> to participate in the Aurigid Laptop Meteor Observation Project, if
>> you're not going to be occupied with other activities. It's
>> ridiculously simple: download the software, run it on your laptop,
>> click the mouse when you see an Aurigid, and email me the data file
>> the next morning. I'll use these data files to assemble a 3D image of
>> the Aurigid meteor stream as it hit the western USA -- something
>> that's never been done before.
>>
>> I have started a publicity campaign to recruit lots of 'civilians' in
>> this effort. It really is possible that we can get the density of
>> observers we need to pull this off. You can help.
>>
>> If you're interested, start with this webpage:
>>
>> http://www.erasmatazz.com/Aurigid/Aurigid.html
>>
>> It provides all the information you need.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Chris Crawford
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Kim
http://www.starlightcascade.ca
Observatory & Gardens