(meteorobs) Observation May 16/17 2009

[Pierre Martin]

On the morning of May 17, I observed meteors at Bootland Farm for a  
little over an hour until moonrise.  The sky transparency was  
generally good, but fluctuated between 3 and 4/5.  The temperature  
went from 8C down to just 1C late in the session.  It was a  
comfortably dry night with no dew, but the wind really helped keep  
things nice and dry.  Actually, it was VERY breezy!!  There were some  
strong gusts throughout the session, and I could hear and see the  
treeline swishing and swaying back and forth!  I don't think I've ever  
observed under such a windy night.  It turned out that my van was  
positioned in such a way that it shielded me nicely.

Aside from the six sporadics, the only other activity was two faint  
antihelions.

Just after 2am, thin cirrus clouds started to encroach.  And with the  
Moon peeking above the treeline, it was time to head back home.

Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario



DATE: May 16/17 2009
BEGIN: 04:50 UT (00:50 EDT) END: 06:15 UT (02:15 EDT)
OBSERVER: Pierre Martin (MARPI)
LOCATION: Long: -76 29' West; Lat: 45 23' North Elevation: 400 ft
Observing site: Bootland Farm, Ontario, CANADA
RECORDING METHOD: talking clock/tape recorder, plotting
----------------------------------------------------------

OBSERVED SHOWERS:_______________________________radiant position
ANT (Antihelion)_________________________________16:36 -22
ETA (Eta Aquarids)_______________________________23:08 +04
SPO (sporadics)
----------------------------------------------------------

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

PERIOD(UT)_____FIELD_______Teff____F______LM____SPO_ANT_ETA

04:50-06:15____17:12 +10___1.29___1.00___6.48____6___2___/

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__+2__+3__+4__+5______AVE

SPO___1___0___2___3___0_____+3.16
ANT___0___0___0___1___1_____+4.50

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  
(IMO definition). The above table contains the magnitudes from all  
observed meteors, and the average (last column) for showers.
------------------------

SKY OBSCURED (FOV) (UT): None

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

Dead time: 7.57 min (5 min for break and 2.57 min for plotting)

Breaks (UT): 5:56-6:01