(meteorobs) Aurigids from New Mexico

[meteoreye at comcast.net]

I wonder if any of our members have a platform in a popular astronomy magazine who could do that? 
[wink]

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: meteoreye at comcast.net 

> It sure would be nice if these AA's (Anecdotal Amateurs) would be encouraged to 
> record their observations to IMO standards to their data would be useful for 
> scientific analysis, instead of just being anecdotal reports. 
> 
> It's a terrible waste of good hours spent under the sky. 
> 
> A good starting place is the NAMN. 
> 
> Wayne 
> -------------- Original message -------------- 
> From: Skywayinc at aol.com 
> 
> > Here is a report that I received from an amateur watching 
> > for the Aurigids from New Mexico. -- joe rao 
> > 
> > ----------------------------------------------------- 
> > Joe: 
> > The Aurigids did come through this morning, and the show 
> > was quite a bit better than the '07 Perseids. I gambled on an early 
> > peak- not wanting to travel west-, and in fact, it came quite a 
> > bit earlier than suggested in your Sky and Tel article. 
> > Between 4:21 AM and 5:36 AM- bright dawn- I observed 30 Aurigids. 
> > But there's a catch- let me explain: 
> > I observed from the Volcanos, some 15 miles west of downtown 
> > Albuquerque, and 5 miles north of I-25. I had excellent skies- the 
> > Milky Way from Cassiopeia to Auriga was faintly visible, and I 
> > could clearly make out the Little Dipper. I'm guessing the zenith 
> > star- as best defined tonight- was 5.5. 
> > I began a watch at 4:21 AM MDT. At 4:36 AM there were two 
> > quick Aurigids, similar to what I observed back in mid 90's. 
> > By 4:50 AM activity really picked up. It was obvious an outburst 
> > was underway. The Aurigids I saw were a mix of fireballs- and faint 
> > specimens (unlike the previous time a saw a few of these meteors, where 
> > there were only fireballs). Two magn. minus 3 Aurigids- almost 
> > simultaneous- 
> > were one of the highlights of the show. 
> > Between 4:21 AM and 5:17 AM MDT I counted 29 Aurigids. By 5:10 AM 
> > it was pretty obvious the outburst was winding down (one gets a feel 
> > for these things). I would guess the peak occurred between 4:50 AM and 
> > 5:05 AM 
> > (10:50 to 11:05 UT). This turned out to be perfectly suited for 
> > Albuquerque. 
> > At 5:17 AM twilight was apparent, but not a problem. Now I logged 
> > Aurigid #29 of the night. However, I continued my watch. 
> > The next Aurigid- at 5:36 AM, in bright twilight- really floored me! 
> > It 
> > was a huge fireball of magnitude -6 or -7, easily casting shadows. It 
> > streaked almost directly overhead of me, heading south, ending near the 
> > Moon. 
> > It left a train for maybe 15 seconds. This (Capella) Aurigid showed 
> > flares, and bursts, 
> > which were preserved in the train. 
> > Aurigids are very swift, very light yellow meteors, ephemerally 
> > trianed. Perhaps 
> > they resemble October Orionids most closely, but are brighter. Some 
> > of the brighter Aurigid fireballs showed delicate green tints. There were 
> > no "red" or 
> > purple fireballs such as what I observed with the 1993 Perseids. But 
> > color is subjective. 
> > Thus, between 4:36 AM and 5:17 AM MDT Sept. 1st 2007 I observed 29 
> > Aurigids. 
> > One highly curious aspect of the shower which became immediatley 
> > noticed was the highly diffuse radiant. Anywhere around, and inside the 
> > Winter Pentagon could have been a radiant. However, 3 radiants 
> > seemed definable: 
> > 1. The Capella radiant 
> > 2. The beta Auriga radiant 
> > 3. The beta Tauri (El Nath) radiant 
> > However one bright Aurigid say 15 degrees below the Pentagon 
> > would have passed directly through the center of the Pentagon as it 
> > moved directly downward. 
> > That a large diffuse radiant existed was definititly- DEFINITELY 
> > the case- I wasn't making this up. I actually began to describe 
> > Aurigids as "Capella Aurigids," or beta Tauri Aurigids," or radiant 
> > uncertain if the meteor passed through two of the aforementioned stars. 
> > This shower's radiant was as diffuse- or likely more diffuse 
> > than the Quadrantids. I've been observing meteors since 1969, and 
> > have a pretty good feel for when I'm seeing a diffuse radiant. 
> > This is interesting because a very sharply peaked meteor 
> > shower would be expected to emmanate from a very small, tight radiant. 
> > Anyway, 
> > 
> > Kevin McKeown, Albuquerque, New Mexico 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
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