(meteorobs) Not observing as much

[pmartsching at mchsi.com]

I have not observed as much the last couple of years - primarily because 2007 and 2008 were unusually cloudy in central Iowa.  Also I'm increasingly reluctant to go out when it is very cold or the roads are icy.  I have a tendency to get sinus head aches from the cold air.  I'm willing to risk a several day head ache for the peak of the Geminids, Ursids and Quadrantids.  In the case of the Quadrantids this year I was very disappointed that it became completely overcast an hour and a half before the beginning of morning twilight.  This would have been my chance to see really high Quad numbers.  I did see 37 Quads under not very good sky during the hour before it clouded up for good - which was my second best Quad hour ever.  I don't know if I will live long enough to ever see the peak of the Quads with good conditions during the last hour before morning twilight when the radiant is well up in the sky.

For some years I'd thought the published IMO September Perseid radiant was a ways off.  I'm glad to find out I was right.  I'd thought maybe I had some sort of "systematic perception error" and that the IMO radiant position couldn't be that far off.    I'm not sure I would have put it where it turns out to be - but it is certainly in the right direction from my observations.  

I don't plot because I have very bad astigmatism and normally wear trifocals.  I wear glasses with only my distance prescription when I observe.  I have to write in the dark, because in order to attempt to see what I'm writing I have to take off my glasses and hold the note pad extremely close to my face.  This doesn't work out well in the cold.  A fair number of times I've seen a faint meteor because my attention was caught by a previous meteor in that area of my field of view.  If I'd been intent on plotting I would have missed the second meteor.  

Instead of using an alignment cord, I just hold up my notepad edgewise to help determine the radiant of some meteors.  I can do this one-handed, while using an alignment cord takes two hands, blocking more of the sky.   These days radiants can be determined using cameras.

Hoping for more clear skies this year!

Paul Martsching