(meteorobs) Taurids not so hot

[meteoreye at comcast.net]

>From my decade plus of history, I'd say the IMO's 5/Hr is more realsitic than the RASC's 15, though on any given night you can get a higher count.

I have not yet calculated EZHR's for my observations, as I's spent that time on Persieds and Orionids so far.
I'll get to that during the slow months; all the data is there except the radiant elevation, which I have to measure for each period before calculating an EZHR.

3 per hour combined is not a bad rate considering your LM.

Wayne

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "Bruce McCurdy" <bmccurdy at telusplanet.net> 

> 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 
> ***** 
> 
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