(meteorobs) Observation November 1/2 2008

[Pierre Martin]

Here's my report for Taurids and other active sources this past  
Saturday night at a site about 90km south-west of Ottawa.  Nine other  
observers were present with telescopes to enjoy a beautiful crisp and  
dark clear night.  While enjoying some the views in the scopes  
present there, I happened to chance see a few Taurids.

I signed-on for meteors near 11pm EDT.  In about 3 hours TEFF, I  
recorded 58 meteors (25 of which were Taurids).  The Orionids were  
still surprisingly noticeable.

A noteworthy event was the appearance of three south Taurids at  
11:21pm EDT within only 10 seconds!  The first was a mag +2 at the  
zenith, followed by a foreshortened mag 0 near the radiant, and then  
seconds later, a mag 0 blue meteor in Cetus.

Other memorable meteors included... a 40 degrees long sporadic at  
12:57am EDT that gradually brightened to mag 0.  At 12:17am EDT, a  
near-earthgrazing mag 0 yellowish Orionid shot 30 degrees in the  
south and had a 1 sec train.  At 1:55am EDT, two sporadics flew  
simultaneously out of the north-east, both traveling in different  
areas of the sky but following similarly parallel paths.

Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario


DATE: November 1/2 2008
BEGIN: 02:55 UT (22:55 EDT) END: 6:40 UT (2:40 EDT)
OBSERVER: Pierre Martin (MARPI)
LOCATION: Long: -76.307 West; Lat: 44.820 North  Elevation: 200 ft
City & Province: Perth, Ontario, CANADA
RECORDING METHOD: plotting and cord alignment
----------------------------------------------------------

OBSERVED SHOWERS:_______________________________radiant position
AND (Andromedids)_________________________________01:32 +30
NTA (Northern Taurids)____________________________03:16 +20
STA (Southern Taurids)____________________________03:16 +14
ORI (Orionids)____________________________________06:48 +16
ICA (Iota Cancrids - non-IMO shower)______________09:36 +29
SPO (sporadics)
----------------------------------------------------------

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

PERIOD(UT)_____FIELD_____Teff____F______LM____SPO_NTA_STA_ORI_AND_ICA

02:55-03:58___03:01+08___1.00___1.00___6.53___12___2___7___0___0___/
03:58-04:59___04:02+10___1.00___1.00___6.55____5___5___2___1___0___0
04:59-06:40___05:26+11___1.13___1.00___6.55___10___4___5___5___0___0

TOTALS:__________________3.13_________________27___11__14__6___0___0   
= 58

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
______0__+1__+2__+3__+4__+5______AVE

SPO___1___2___3___8___9___4_____+3.26
STA___2___3___2___3___3___1_____+2.36
NTA___2___1___0___4___1___3_____+2.91
ORI___1___0___1___1___1___2_____+3.17

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: 37.16 min  (time taken for breaks and plotting)

Breaks (UT): 3:30-32, 4:09-10, 5:11-15, 5:18-47