(meteorobs) Quick Impressions from East GA and Central Virginia

[FELIX A MARRTINEZ]

Glad to see that several  of our talented high-perception Observers saw a
good "show" from the Quads last night!  Under LM 6.5 skies and very cold
temps (around 14 degrees F), at first glance it appears like I averaged
between 15 - 22 Quads/Hour, mainly after 0700 UT.  Unfortunately, I
probably stopped observing too soon (only observed between 0515 and 0900
UT) and the rates may have been climbing?  Quite frankly, it was just too
cold (spoken like a true "South Florida Chicken" and I kinda lost
interest after my Wife Suzannah went back inside after 0715 UT).  Still,
it was nice seeing a few more Quads than I have ever been able to see
before.  My initial assessment & impression is that the radiant does not
get very well placed until almost daybreak, especially from any location
South of 40 N latitude.  Most of the Quads between 0515 and 0830 UT,
seemed long (almost earthgrazerish), which made them rather impressive to
observe.  Will send along actual data in next posting.  Looking forward
to the reports from other Observers!
                                                In Astronomical Affinity
- Felix A. Martinez


On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 17:10:24 +0000 meteorsga at bellsouth.net writes:
> I had excellent clear skies here is East Central Georgia, but had to 
> pick and choose my time as it was a work night, so I decided for two 
> hours just after the 7:00 UT peak, which also gave me a higher 
> radiant.
> 
> Like Pierre and Wayne, I had many minutes with multiple Quads and 
> several negative magnitude members.  I won't know my actual rates 
> until I transcribe my tape, but it appears I was seeing better than 
> 1/minute on average...
> 
> Kim Youmans
> 
> -------------- Original message ----------------------
> From: 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.
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