(meteorobs) Taurids not so hot

[Bruce McCurdy]

    Three mostly-successful meteor observing sessions to report from a very 
hectic couple of weeks, might as well present them in chronological order.

    This year my meteor project has been to observe every "major" shower (as 
listed in the RASC Observer's Handbook, anything with ZHR >= 10) as close to 
the listed peak date as possible. This approach has forced me to pay more 
attention to previously-ignored showers like the Taurids. As a veteran of 
both the Orionids and Leonids I have spotted a fair number of individual 
Taurids, it's impossible not to with their very lengthy display every year. 
But I had never gone after them specifically at their "peak"before. I had 
every intention of going out very close to both Nov. 5 and 12 for the S. and 
N. Taurids respectively, both of which had a listed peak of ZHR = 15 in the 
Handbook. (The IMO calendar agreed as to the dates of the peaks, although 
with a more modest forecast of ZHR = 5)

    Alas, fate had other plans, as my father passed away suddenly on 
November 4. That night the skies were clear as a bell  but instead of 
heading to the dark site I packed for a trip to Victoria. A beautiful 
conjunction of Venus and the crescent Moon highlighted my early morning 
drive to the airport, but I saw not a single meteor. I packed my meteor kit 
in hopes of a little backyard observing on the coast, but it clouded up soon 
after my arrival and stayed that way for four days until the Sun finally 
broke through Friday afternoon during the interment.

    By Saturday night I was back home in Edmonton and desperate for a little 
starlight to help me regain my perspective, but way too exhausted to even 
think of a long drive. So for the first time in my project I chose to simply 
observe from my back yard for an hour or so. Transparency was pretty decent, 
with a LM of 4.5, about as good as it gets from central Edmonton. While 
technically we were closer to the second Taurids peak than the first, I as 
sole arbiter of my own project decided to give myself a break and officially 
label this a "South Taurids" session. What do you know but all three of the 
Taurids I did see were unambiguously from the southern radiant. Also got an 
early Leonid and a colourful majestic sporadic for my troubles. Most 
importantly, got an hour's worth of night air, alone with my skies and my 
thoughts.

    Bruce
    *****

Observer: Bruce McCurdy,  MCCBR
Location: Back yard, central Edmonton, AB: 53°33'12" N, 113°32'35" W
Time: 2007 Nov 11, 08:30-09:35 UT ; Teff = 1.0 hour
Method: visual, microcassette recorder and talking watch
Limiting magnitude =  4.5 (SQM = 18.3)

Active radiants:
November Piscids (NVP)  01:40 (025) +27
Northern Taurid (NTA)  03:44 (056) +22
Southern Taurid (STA)  03:44 (056) +15
Leonids (LEO)  09:48 (147) +24

08:30    start
08:32    STA    +1
08:48    STA    0
08:52    STA    -1
08:58    LEO    +4    impression of fading train, not instantaneous but too 
faint to last long
09:00-09:05    break
09:18    SPO    +3
09:33    SPO    0    2.5 s duration, 30° path, brief wake, coppery
***

0 NVP
0 NTA
3 STA    -1, 0, +1
1 LEO    +4
2 SPO    0, +3
Total meteors: six
*****