(meteorobs) Quick Impressions from NJ

[meteoreye at comcast.net]

I spent the night observing with Pierre Martin and his friend Todd who drove from Ottawa to NJ in search of clear skies.

They probably should have gone another hour or so south as clouds intervened from 2AM (7UT) to 5 AM (10 UT). Before the clouds, with the radiant < 20 degrees, Quad rates were slow. However as it started to clear we could see many negative magnitude Quads through the thin clouds. Pierre and I got about an hour in once it cleared before twilight. Rates seemed quite high; we had many minutes with 3 or 4 Quads. Several Fireball class were also seen.

And reminiscent of the 2001 Leonids, the bright meteors contined until a few minutes before sunrise.

After a nap, I'll digest my tape, Pierre is driving back as I type, so he probably won't get his analyzed until tomorrow. He also had 2 cameras operating and snagged a few, from a quick scan of the images.

The NJAA all sky camera worked OK unil about 3 AM EST, when (probably from the cold) it developed a noise problem.

It was cold (12F, -11C) but with much less wind then last night it was more comfortable.

It was great to observe with my NAMN friend Pierre again; we're working on reeling in Todd to the science of meteor observing :)

Nighty nite for now...


Wayne, from the frozen tundra of the NJAA Observatory.