(meteorobs) Observation February 24/25 2007

[Pierre Martin]

Hello all,

A late report...

After a most enjoyable OAOG public "sidewalk" session in Ottawa on  
Feb 24th, and get-together at Perkins, I joined Sanjeev for some late  
night observing at Beckwith Park (south-west of Ottawa).  We wanted  
to take advantage of the setting Moon and darkening skies.  Despite  
the cold (several degrees below freezing and some wind), it was  
enjoyable to be out under darker skies again.  Until this session, I  
had not seen a single meteor since the Quadrantids in early January,  
so I was eager to see something, even though my expectations for  
meteor rates were low at this time of the year.

I observed for two hours TEFF.  In the first hour, the Moon was still  
up and causing some interference.  There was also a few lights on all  
night in Beckwith Park that are a pain.  Fortunately, Sanjeev  
positioned his van to create some shadow, so we could better dark  
adapt.  The western horizon is now blocked by about 10-15 degrees  
from a newly built arena.  The second hour was darker after moonset.

In the two hours, I recorded a dozen meteors.  The only shower  
members were a pair of antihelions, otherwise all sporadics.  The  
nicest meteor was a swift moving sporadic from the apex source that  
reached mag +1 and was bluish.

I also enjoyed some nice galaxies in Leo, thanks to Sanjeev who was  
setup near me with his Televue 85mm refractor.

I'm looking forward to the milder nights and increased meteor rates  
this Spring.

Clear skies!

Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario




DATE: February 24/25 2007
BEGIN: 0645 UT (0145 EST)  END: 0845 UT (0345 EST)
OBSERVER: Pierre Martin (MARPI)
LOCATION: Long: -76.0669 West; Lat: 45.0453 North  Elevation: 300 ft
City & Province: Beckwith Park (in Blacks Corners) Ontario, CANADA
RECORDING METHOD: talking clock/tape recorder, plotting & cord align
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

OBSERVED SHOWERS:________________________________________radiant  
position
		DLE (Delta Leonids)________________________11:12 +16
		ANT (Antihelions)__________________________11:12 +05
		SPO (sporadics)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

OBSERVING PERIODS: 0 = none seen;  / = shower not observed

PERIOD(UT)__FIELD_____Teff___F______LM_____SPO__ANT__DLE

0645-0745___1216+14___1.00___1.00___6.11____4____1____0
0745-0845___1317+13___1.00___1.00___6.21____6____1____0

TOTALS:_______________2.00_________________10____2____0  = 12

Note: The first column (Period UT) refers to observing periods broken  
down as close as possible to one hour of true observing, in Universal  
Time. The second column (Field) is the area in in the sky where I  
centered my field of view. The third column (TEFF) represents  
effective observing time (corrected for breaks or any time I did not  
spent looking at the sky).  The next column (LM) is the average naked  
eye limiting magnitude, determined by triangle star counts. All  
following columns indicate the number of meteors for each shower  
observed.
------------------------

MAGNITUDE DISTRIBUTIONS:

SHOWER
______+1__+2__+3__+4__+5______AVE

SPO____2___1___3___4___0_____+2.90
ANT____0___0___1___0___1_____+4.00

Note: Magnitude -8 is comparable to a quarter moon, magnitude -4 with  
the planet Venus, magnitude -1 with the brightest star Sirius,  
magnitude +2 to +3 with most average naked eye stars and magnitude +6  
to +7 are the faintest stars the naked eye can see under typical dark  
conditions. A meteor of at least magnitude -3 is considered a  
fireball. The above table contains the magnitudes from all observed  
meteors, and the average (last column) for showers.
------------------------

SKY OBSCURED (FOV) (UT): None

------------------------

Dead time: None

Breaks (UT): None