(meteorobs) Observation December 12/13 2009

[Pierre Martin]

Hello all,

Working to catch up on some old reports.  Starting with the Geminids  
last December ;)

This was the night that Ivan, Sanjeev and myself decided to setup at  
Johnston road, a quiet, winter-accessible spot about 45 minutes east  
of Ottawa.  Temperature went down to -13C (9F) but an uncomfortably  
humid night made it feel colder than that.  On this night, I opted to  
do a short session, in the anticipation that I'd be heading out the  
following night for the peak - and there was a good possibility of  
traveling far out of town.  The Geminids on this night were very  
active, producing an average of one meteor every minute!  Lots of  
faint meteors, as would be expected on pre-max night.  After an hour  
of observing, thin clouds began to increase across the sky, so I ended.

Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario



DATE: December 12/13 2009
BEGIN: 04:45 UT (23:45 EST) END: 06:00 UT (01:00 EST)
OBSERVER: Pierre Martin (MARPI)
LOCATION: Long: -75 06' West; Lat: 45 26' North
Observing site: Johnston road, Ontario, CANADA
RECORDING METHOD: talking clock/tape recorder, cord align
----------------------------------------------------------

OBSERVED SHOWERS:_______________________________radiant position
MON (Monocerotids)_______________________________06:52 (103) +07
GEM (Geminids)___________________________________07:33 (113) +32
HYD (Sigma Hydrids)______________________________08:42 (130) +01
DLM (December Leonis Minorids)___________________10:22 (155) +34
COM (Coma Berenicids)____________________________11:30 (173) +18
DAD (Alpha Draconids)____________________________14:00 (210) +58
ANT (Antihelion)_________________________________06:16 (094) +23
SPO (sporadics)
----------------------------------------------------------

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

PERIOD(UT)____FIELD_______Teff___LM____SPO_GEM_MON_HYD_DLM_COM_DAD_ANT

04:45-06:00___06:01 +08___1.08___6.20___6___55___0___3___/___/___/ 
___4  = 68


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 (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
______-2__-1___0__+1__+2__+3__+4__+5______AVE

GEM____2___2___3___6__10__18___7___7_____+2.49
ANT____0___0___0___0___1___0___3___0_____+3.50
HYD____0___0___1___0___0___1___1___0_____+2.33
SPO____0___0___0___0___2___2___2___0_____+3.00

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: 10 min (break)

Breaks (UT): 5:25-35