(meteorobs) Video Observation Results - August 2007

[Chris Peterson]

Hi Sirko-

You might be interested in how things look from Colorado. Here, August 
tends to be the month with the worst weather, while the autumn and 
winter months tend to be very good. Between the clear skies and long 
nights, the Geminids consistently outperform the Perseids. And the 
Orionids and Taurids, which tend to run together, are about equal to the 
Perseids. Have a look at the charts posted at 
http://www.cloudbait.com/science/showers.html .

Clearly, a complete picture of meteor activity doesn't just require a 
lot of cameras, but it requires cameras scattered all around the world 
to average out these effects of locale.

Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sirko Molau" <sirko at molau.de>
To: "IMO-News Mailing List" <imo-news at yahoogroups.com>
Cc: "Meteorobs Mailing List" <meteorobs at meteorobs.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2007 4:47 PM
Subject: (meteorobs) Video Observation Results - August 2007


> Results of the IMO Video Meteor Network - August 2007
> =====================================================
>
> Wouldn't it be time for a new record after the long dry period? But 
> which
> ingredients are required to obtain more meteors that at any time 
> before?
>
> - Many observers: One reason for the ongoing success of the IMO 
> network is
> the steadily increasing number of observers. There is always some 
> fluctuation,
> but in general the network is growing. In August 2007, 22 cameras were
> operated by 16 observers. We could even welcome two new observers: On 
> the one
> hand there is Stefano Crivello (as you may guess from his name, 
> Stefano is
> based in Italy), whose camera had first light last month. This would 
> have been
> the first time with more Italian than German observers unless Niko 
> Wuensche
> did some testing with the new meteor camera of Archenhold Observatory 
> in
> Berlin. In these days, the camera will be finally installed at the 
> observatory,
> and in the future it shall give the visitors a better insight into 
> meteors and
> provide data to our network. By the way, at least with respect to the 
> number
> of video camera the Germans still have the clear lead. ;-)
> Summary: This ingredient to a new record was not missing in August.
>
> - Active meteor showers: In principle you may expect new records only 
> in
> August, October and December. Nobody will question August (Perdeids) 
> and
> December (Geminids), but you may ask why October and not November 
> (Leonids)
> or January (Quadrantids). The answer is simple - it's not only the 
> meteor rate
> that counts, but also the length of the nights. The Perseids provide 
> plenty of
> meteors for many nights, but the nights are quite short. October, on 
> the other
> hand, presents almost half of the Perseid activity thanks to the 
> Orionids,
> Taurids and sporadic activity, and the nights are almost twice as 
> long. The
> time of the Leonids is over, and the activity interval of the 
> Quadrantids is
> ways too short.
> Summary: Also this ingredient for a new record was present, not to 
> forget that
> the Perseid maximum coincided with new moon in 2007.
>
> - Good weather: In the end, everything depends on the weather. The 
> most
> splendid meteor shower is worth nothing if you only record "hydro 
> meteors".
> In this respect, the last month was not perfect, but ok. Many 
> observers
> collected more than 20 nights again, even if only few of these were 
> perfectly
> clear. Just in time the weather cooperated with the observers: On 
> August 12/13,
> 19 cameras were in operation (one of my automatic cameras failed just 
> that
> night because of a power outage), and in the next night once more 15 
> cameras
> (here one of my camera failed because of a software bug - Murphys 
> law!).
> Summary: Also the most important ingredient was present by August.
>
> So all things came together for a new highscore, and already by 
> mid-August
> the meteor number grew over 10,000. By the end of the months we had 
> collected
> nearly 14,000 meteors, which falls only slightly short of the so far 
> best
> results (14,173 meteors in October 2006). However, 6 nights from REMO1 
> as well
> as the data of KAYAK1 and ICC3 are still missing, so I'm optimistic 
> that in the
> end we may have even recorded close to 15,000 meteors!
>
> With more than 1,500 hours of effective observing time, August 
> presented a
> respectable result, but in this category it cannot beat the autumn and 
> winter
> months (2,225 hours in October 2006).
>
> Winner of the "beauty contest" last month were the Perseid plots from 
> Biondani
> Roberto (http://www.imonet.org/reports/20070801.gif) and Bob Lunsford
> (http://www.imonet.org/reports/20070802.gif). Both aimed their cameras 
> almost
> directly at the radiant. Bobs camera had a smaller field of view, 
> which is why
> his meteors were recorded closer to the radiant than Biondanis.
>
> However, not just the Perseids had drawn an interesting picture: Ilkka 
> Yrjola
> noted that the kappa-Cynids were remarkably active even at the end of 
> their
> nominal activity period (August 25). So I artificially increased the 
> activity
> period and recomputed the meteor shower assignment for all cameras. 
> The result
> is given at http://www.imonet.org/reports/20070803.gif
> This year, the kappa-Cygnids were indeed active well beyond August 25.
> Unfortunately, data is scarse at the end of August, but it seems they 
> could
> easily keep up with the alpha-Aurigids at that time.
>
> Last but not least I would like to point out, that detailed 
> information about
> the IMO Video Meteor Network and the Video Meteor Database including 
> the
> monthly reports can now be obtained at http://www.imonet.org.