(meteorobs) Rating a Quandrantid Meteor seen during the non-moon portion of the evening on January 3, 2010

[orink at t6b.com]

Good Morning, All:



Can anyone confirm my single Quadrantid observation from before 9:30PM CST on
Jan 3, 2010.

Background Info... I have limited experience doing this stuff but am aware of
IMO info and am wading through it as I go.

I wanted to try my hand at observing the Quadrantid meteor shower. My plan was
to try to avoid the moon by observing from 6:30 PM, CST until moon-rise, and
then again, from 0530 hrs until 0700 hrs - after the moon went west a bit. The
last two nights have been clear.

Being about 15 miles ENE from Rockford, IL, and 65 miles NW of Chicago, I am
located in an area with severe light domes from cities in the area. I am
observing in farm country and have picked a local location within three miles of
home. It is in a bit of a depression with some local tree lines about 1/2 miles
distant. This results in only one visible farm light about 1/4 mile to my west.

For the Quadrantids, I am choosing to observe to the north to avoid the major
sources of light pollution. The last two nights, I have been able to see Mars
easily at about 7 degrees above the horizon to my east. As I start my evening
observations, I am only able to see the two innermost stars in the handle of the
big dipper, the third is down in the muck and northern tree line. Three of the four
stars in the bowl are visible, the forth is there, but is too dim to be easily
seen with non-averted vision. I can only make out only the two brighter stars in the bowl of the little
dipper. Deneb and the three wing stars of Cygnus are seen clearly in the west.
The major stars of Cepheus, Cassiopeia, and Perseus are all fine at my zenith. I
can see nine stars in the counting area of the great square asterism of Pegasus,
including the corner stars. The counting area for Pegasus is just south of my
present zenith.

I got my chair, layered self, and a blanket and sat down with my car as a bit
of a wind-block and also to block that near-by farm light. Facing north, I
started my tape recorder when I saw my first meteor, a sporadic ? that seemed to
come from western Perseus, popped into view about five degrees from the lower
southern square of Cepheus and headed south to north, burning out before it got
into Cepheus with a path less than 5 degrees and a mag of , I'll say, two. That
occurred about 1918 hrs, CST.

At 1929 hrs, CST, by recorder, a typical, fast Leonid streaked by below the north star and
burned out after passing under all of Cepheus as it was on the way to Deneb.
Its path was narrow and about 15-20 degrees long. I did the hands thing with
its path and made certain it seemed to came from the area around Mars rather
than Castor. Unknown to me, after 36 minutes...about 1957 hrs, my tape recorder
ran out of space and shut down.

Later, I don't know why 2021hrs, CST sticks in my mind, but it may be the time
on the dash clock when I went to the car to get some coffee, a beautiful, slow,
white, fat-pathed,compared to a narrow Leonid path, -2 mag meteor came up from
the northern horizon area under the middle star in the handle of the big dipper,
and the path lasted for about five degrees or a bit more. It was the only
Quadrantid (?) I have ever seen. Stopping my observing about 2115 hrs,I got up again at 0400 hrs CST on Jan fourth, but we had clouded in while I slept.

Can anyone confirm this Quadrantid sighting from the admittedly poor
information I have posted above? The magnitude may have been more, but I am sure
my guesses aren't worth much, especially with such a wide path, I wasn't sure how to describe a magnitude and I don't want to exaggerate. :)

As Ever,
Orin Keplinger
in Boone County, near Garden Prairie, IL