(meteorobs) Observation October 23/24 2008

[Pierre Martin]

The following morning (Friday the 24th) was also crystal clear, and I  
couldn't resist heading out a few hours before dawn.  I very nearly  
slept through when I failed to hear my alarm clock.  I woke up only  
by chance about an hour late, so I rushed to pack and took off for  
the Moosecreek site.

Despite arriving later than planned, I was able to cover two hours  
meteor observing until the morning twilight became too bright to  
continue.  This time I was alone... except for a curious skunk that  
wandered around.  Later on, a few dump trucks rolled in to start  
their work at the neighboring farm.  This morning also didn't feel  
quite as cool or uncomfortable as the previous one - although the  
frost was significant.  The sky was beautiful, the winter Milky Way  
was quite evident and the Moon was now only a thin crescent phase low  
in the east.

In two hours TEFF, I got in 63 meteors.  The Orionids continued to be  
strong especially in the first hour.  The Taurids and Leo Minorids  
were also noticeable in low numbers.  This time, none of the meteors  
seen reached a minus mag.  One of the more memorable meteors was a  
mag +1 South Taurid that was vividly yellow-orange colored.

Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario


DATE: October 23/24 2008
BEGIN: 08:15 UT (4:15 EDT) END: 10:20 UT (6:20 EDT)
OBSERVER: Pierre Martin (MARPI)
LOCATION: Long: -75.063 West; Lat: 45.269 North  Elevation: 200 ft
City & Province: Moose Creek, Ontario, CANADA
RECORDING METHOD: cord alignment
----------------------------------------------------------

OBSERVED SHOWERS:_______________________________radiant position
NTA (Northern Taurids)____________________________02:28 +18
STA (Southern Taurids)____________________________02:36 +12
ORI (Orionids)____________________________________06:20 +16
EGE (Epsilon Geminids)____________________________06:56 +27
ICA (Iota Cancrids - non-IMO shower)______________09:00 +29
LMI (Leo Minorids)________________________________10:28 +39
SPO (sporadics)
----------------------------------------------------------

OBSERVING PERIODS: 0 = none seen; / = shower not observed

PERIOD(UT) 
_____FIELD_____Teff____F______LM____SPO_ORI_EGE_NTA_STA_LMI_ICA

08:15-09:15___05:14+06___1.00___1.00___6.43____6__25___0___2___3___2___0
09:15-10:20___06:16+06___1.02___1.00___6.32____5__13___1___2___2___2___0

TOTALS:__________________2.02_________________11__38___1___4___5___4___0 
   = 63

Note: The first column (Period UT) refers to observing periods broken  
down as close as possible to one hour of true observing, in Universal  
Time. The second column (Field) is the area in in the sky where I  
centered my field of view. The third column (TEFF) represents  
effective observing time (corrected for breaks or any time not spent  
looking at the sky). The column (LM) is the average naked eye  
limiting magnitude, determined by triangle star counts. All following  
columns indicate the number of meteors for each shower observed.
------------------------

MAGNITUDE DISTRIBUTIONS:

SHOWER
_____-1___0__+1__+2__+3__+4__+5______AVE

SPO___1___0___1___1___1___6___1_____+3.09
ORI___0___3___6__10___6___7___6_____+2.68
STA___0___0___1___0___2___2___0_____+3.00
NTA___0___0___0___0___1___2___1_____+4.00
LMI___0___0___0___0___1___3___0_____+3.75
EGE___0___0___0___0___0___1___0_____+4.00

Note: Magnitude -8 is comparable to a quarter moon, magnitude -4 with  
the planet Venus, magnitude -1 with the brightest star Sirius,  
magnitude +2 to +3 with most average naked eye stars and magnitude +6  
to +7 are the faintest stars the naked eye can see under typical dark  
conditions. A meteor of at least magnitude -3 is considered a  
fireball. The above table contains the magnitudes from all observed  
meteors, and the average (last column) for showers.
------------------------

SKY OBSCURED (FOV) (UT): None

------------------------

Dead time: 4 min  (time taken for break)

Breaks (UT): 10:07-11