[Meteorobs] Observation September 18/19 2009

Pierre Martin dob14.5 at sympatico.ca
Sat Oct 24 13:05:10 EDT 2009


I spent a few hours (after midnight) at Bootland Farm to observe, and  
I wasn't disappointed!  The sky conditions on this night were  
exceptionally good.  It was one of those rare nights... I estimated  
the transparency at about 4.5 out 5.  The summer Milky Way was  
glorious all the way to the horizon, and stars approaching mag 6.7  
peppered the zenith.  I thought I could maybe even see a hint of the  
gegenshein, ever so faintly.  The galaxy M33 was just barely visible,  
as was the globular M15 (looking like a tiny patch next to a faint  
star).  Although the previous session at the more remote La Verendrye  
site was darker still, I found myself enjoying this night even more  
so.  A light breeze kept everything dry and comfortable - and not even  
a hint of dew!  I also felt myself much more alert and awake compared  
to the session at La Verendrye.  By looking up and towards the south- 
west (away from the dome of Ottawa/Arnprior), the sky in that  
direction looked more like what I would expect to see at a Bortle  
class 3 (blue zone) sky.  What a great night!!

I had a fairly busy two hour meteor session.  Sporadics were  
consitently active, and kept me busy plotting.  The South Taurids  
produced low but noticeable activity.  A few September Perseids were  
seen too.

The big highlight above everything else was the dazzling mag -4 South  
Taurid fireball at 12:07am EDT high up in the north-east.  It moved a  
long 50 degrees, flared brightly and fragmented spectacularly into at  
least two bright pieces that continued for a few more degrees.  It had  
that classic "Taurid-like" fireball appearance too :)  Certainly one  
of this year's best meteors for me!

Before packing up at the end, I spent several minutes in my chair  
observing with my 9x63mm binocs.  I'm always impressed at just how  
much these can pick up under ideal dark conditions.  And on this  
night, I sure was picking up many fine views!

Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario



DATE: September 18/19 2009
BEGIN: 03:45 UT (23:45 EDT) END: 06:05 UT (02:05 EDT)
OBSERVER: Pierre Martin (MARPI)
LOCATION: Long: -76 29' West; Lat: 45 23' North
Observing site: Bootland Farm, Ontario, CANADA
RECORDING METHOD: talking clock/tape recorder, plotting
----------------------------------------------------------

OBSERVED SHOWERS:_______________________________radiant position
STA (South Taurids)______________________________00:56 +05
NUE (Nu Eridanids)_______________________________05:00 +07
SPE (September Perseids)_________________________04:40 +48
SPO (sporadics)
----------------------------------------------------------

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

PERIOD(UT)____FIELD_______Teff___F______LM_____SPO_STA_NUE_SPE

03:40-04:46___22:59 +09___1.00___1.00___6.61___15___2___/___1
04:46-06:05___00:02 +09___1.16___1.00___6.68___14___4___/___2

TOTALS:___________________2.16_________________29___6___/___3  =  38

Notes: The first column (Period UT) refers to observing periods, 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) Teff is  
simply the total time during the observing session spent actually  
watching the sky. Breaks and/or dead time are not included in the  
reported Teff. It is reported in decimal format such that a 60 minute  
observing session would be reported as Teff = 1.00. The column F is a  
correction when obstructions such as clouds block portions of the  
field of view (1.00 = 100% clear skies). The column (LM) is the  
average naked eye limiting magnitude seen.  All following columns  
indicate the number of meteors for each shower observed.  For more  
info, see: http://www.namnmeteors.org/guidechap2.html
------------------------

MAGNITUDE DISTRIBUTIONS:

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

SPO___0___0___0___0___1___4___2___6__11___5_____+3.28
STA___1___0___0___0___0___0___3___0___1___1_____+1.83
SPE___0___0___0___0___0___2___0___1___0___0_____+1.67

Notes: 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: 5 min (break) + 10.11 min (plotting) = 15.11 min

Breaks (UT): 5:06-11




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