(meteorobs) Pre-max ETA observations from north Florida

Paul Jones jonesp0854 at gmail.com
Thu May 5 08:12:22 EDT 2011


Greetings again list,
     We had a bit of cool front pass through yesterday, dropping temps down
to rather unusually chilly levels for Florida in early May.  It did,
however, also clear out the murky skies we've been having and provided sharp
observing conditons, so I tried my hand at seeing what the eta Aquariids
were up to in the pre-dawn this morning.  I managed to catch a few in 1 1/4
hours Teff, but they definitely have some picking up to do. Overall meteor
activity was very good, though (especially a fine showing from the ANT
radiant cluster).  Here's the data from this morning's watch:


Date:  May 04/05, 2011, 7:00 - 8:15 UT (4:00 - 5:15 a.m. EDT)
5 miles SW of St. Augustine, Florida, USA ; 29.9 N lat, 81.33 W long  10
meters elevation
Temperature: 50 degrees Farenheit

7:00 - 8:15 UT; Teff=1.25, Lm=6.3  20% horizon obstruction (trees)
ETA (eta Aquariids) - 6
ELY (eta Lyrids) - 1
ANT (Anthelions) - 3
SPO (sporadics) - 8
Total meteors - 18


Magnitudes:
ETA - 0 (1), +2 (1), +3 (2), +4 (2)
ELY - +3 (1)
ANT - +3 (1), +4 (2)
SPO - +2 (1), +3 (3), +4 (3), +5 (1)

Individually, the ETAs were gorgeous as always with long paths and glowing
trains, standing out almost like searchlights compared against everything
else I saw.  Every one of them is a sight to behold indeed.  The ANTs also
put on a  nice show of off-speed meteors coming out of the southwest.  One
of them was in central Ophiuchus and tracked right over the projected
radiant of another obscure entry on the IAU meteor data center listing:  the
zeta Ophiuchids (ZOP).  The apparent speed of the meteor seemed dead on to
be a ZOP (14 miles per second), but the track was way too long to be that
close to the radiant, so I put it down as an ANT.   The ELY was seen
tracking due south, a good distance from the projected radiant and showed
a hint of yellow and a slight wake, the apprent speed on it looked right (27
miles per second).  I'll be on the lookout for more of these for sure!
I'll be back out in the morning, good Lord willing and the creeks don't
rise.

Best regards from the Ancient City, Paul



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