(meteorobs) Orionids from Putnam Valley, NY

[Skywayinc at aol.com]

I got up at 4:30 this morning and immediately headed out to watch for the  
Orionids.  
I was out until 5:45 a.m.  I have a rather restricted view from out in  front 
of my house; lots of
tall trees both to my west and east.  But a wide "slot" of sky running  from 
north to south, which
provided me of a great view of the Big Dipper ascending in the northeast  and 
Orion and his
brilliant retinue peaking over in the south.
 
Skies were very clear and transparent . . . my LM was +5.4, which is about  
as good as 
it ever gets from my house.  I brought along my 7 X 35,  wide-angle
binoculars and spent some time scanning for deep sky objects . . . so  I 
wasn't always
watching for meteors.
 
My opinion about the 2007 Orionids is that we saw a display more typical of  
normal than
what was seen a year ago.  I saw about a dozen . . . most were  very swift 
and averaged
around third magnitude.  A few were in the zero to -1 category and  left 
trains lasting 
about one-half to one-second.  All were whitish in color.  I saw  one Orionid 
which was 
practically at the radiant: a very short/"stubby" streak of about magnitude  
-1. 
 
I wanted to spend more time outside . . . it was nice and tranquil,  except 
for the 
whistles of the occasional Metro North train off in the  distance.  But I had 
to get some
rest because I'm about to leave to M.C. an event for the local Putnam  Humane 
Society
called "Barktoberfest."  I tell folks that if they're sponsoring an  event 
that's going
to the dogs, just call on me to host it!    :)
 
-- joe rao  



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