[Meteorobs] Observation September 25/26 2009

Pierre Martin dob14.5 at sympatico.ca
Sat Oct 24 13:13:17 EDT 2009


I got out for a two hours morning meteor session, under ideal sky  
conditions.  The transparency started above-average, and down a bit to  
average quality towards the end. Although the sky stayed good  
overhead, the ground was more damp and some ground fog could be seen  
moving in and out.  The temperature reached freezing, so I was glad to  
have several layers on to stay warm.

I two hours, I recorded 27 meteors, only three of which were South  
Taurids/antihelions.

Thw highlight was at 1:29am EDT when a mag -3 blue-green sporadic shot  
a long 20 degrees across southern Cetus, and left behind a 4 seconds  
persistent train.  Another memorable meteor was the near-earthgrazer  
at 2:52am that persisted for 40 degrees, going from southern Andromeda  
to western Lacerta.

Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario



DATE: September 25/26 2009
BEGIN: 05:15 UT (01:15 EDT) END: 07:22 UT (03:22 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)______________________________01:22 +06
SPO (sporadics)
----------------------------------------------------------

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

PERIOD(UT)____FIELD_______Teff___F______LM_____SPO_STA

05:15-06:17___02:51 +19___1.00___1.00___6.65____8___2
06:17-07:22___03:34 +17___1.01___1.00___6.53___16___1

TOTALS:___________________2.01_________________24___3  =  27

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

SPO___1___0___0___0___3___4___5___7___4_____+2.96
STA___0___0___0___0___0___0___1___2___0_____+3.66

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: 5.98 min (plotting)

Breaks (UT): none




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