(meteorobs) 248 Draconids from Northern Germany (LANMA results)

Marco Langbroek marco.langbroek at wanadoo.nl
Mon Oct 10 16:27:37 EDT 2011


Hi all,

Just back from observing the Draconid meteor outburst from Sleswig-Holstein, 
N-Germany. From a field near a small hamlet called, very suitably, "Dunkelsdorf" 
("darkvillage"). What a nice show we saw, even with the moon!

We had a very transparent and clear sky with nothwithstanding the moon a 
limiting magnitude (me personally) of +6.3 and visible milky way up to Perseus.

I observed looking north with my back to the moon. Counted 248 Draconids (plus 
24 sporadic meteors) in 2.77 hours effective observing time. During the peak 
moment at about 20:04 UT, I saw 3-4 Draconids per minute for a short while. Most 
were faint. My data suggest a peak ZHR of about 250.

As supporting part of the 2011 Draconid Airborne Mission, Peter Jenniskens 
(SETI/NASA-Ames) and us (Carl Johannink and me, DMS) set up a multi-station 
effort with video units situated 91 km apart using two of Peter's CAMS systems.

While we formed the "remote" post at Lebatz/Dunkelsdorf, Peter manned the 
primary post at Kühlungsborn (German Baltic coast), 91 km east of us, as a 
guest at the Leibniz Institut für Atmosphären Physik (IAP).

Michael Gerding (IAP) meanwhile operated the IAP Potassium LIDAR at the primary 
site. They tried to detect meteor debris/ionization trails at 95 km altitude 
with the LIDAR, trails from the same meteors that we simultaniously filmed. Very 
impressive to see this massive laser beam in operation the night before 
(test-run), when we were too still at Kühlungsborn (we relocated 91 km westwards 
the day of the maximum, picking the location for our secondary station based on 
the latest weather prospects). A picture of the LIDAR beam I shot that 
night-before can be seen here: http://draconids.seti.org/   (scroll down a bit 
on the page).

Preliminary multistation results on 28 Draconid meteors, yielded a geocentric 
radiant at RA 262.8, dec +55.5 degrees (apparent radiant at about RA 267, +57.5, 
changing a bit over the night due to zenith-attraction). It could have been 
more, were it not that (unlike us - we had a crystal clear sky and filmed 
hundreds of meteors) Kühlungsborn suffered from cloud fields during parts of the 
period.

I wish to warmly thank Dr Michael Gerding and his team at the IAP for their 
hospitality in Kühlungsborn. It was a great experience!

- Marco



night    	 2011-10-08/09
begin    	 2011-10-08 1845
end      	 2011-10-08 2200
observer	 "Marco" "Langbroek" "LANMA"
location	 10 35 42 E, 53 58 33 N
site    	 "Dunkelsdorf" "Germany"


// 	Interval (UT)  	RA  	Dec 	Teff 	F    	Lm  	   GIA 	   SPO
period	1845-1850 	000 	+80 	0.083 	1.00 	6.40	 C   5 	 C   1
period	1900-1910 	000 	+80 	0.167 	1.00 	6.40	 C   9 	 C   3
period	1910-1925 	000 	+80 	0.167 	1.00 	6.30	 C  11 	 C   1
period	1925-1935 	000 	+80 	0.167 	1.00 	6.30	 C  19 	 C   0
period	1935-1945 	000 	+80 	0.167 	1.00 	6.30	 C  11 	 C   1
period	1945-1957 	000 	+80 	0.200 	1.00 	6.30	 C  17 	 C   2
period	1957-2010 	000 	+80 	0.217 	1.00 	6.30	 C  41 	 C   2
period	2010-2019 	000 	+80 	0.150 	1.00 	6.30	 C  27 	 C   1
period	2022-2035 	000 	+80 	0.217 	1.00 	6.30	 C  20 	 C   4
period	2035-2050 	000 	+80 	0.217 	1.00 	6.30	 C  25 	 C   1
period	2050-2100 	000 	+80 	0.167 	1.00 	6.30	 C  11 	 C   2
period	2100-2110 	000 	+80 	0.167 	1.00 	6.30	 C  13 	 C   1
period	2110-2115 	000 	+80 	0.083 	1.00 	6.30	 C   3 	 C   1
period	2124-2142 	000 	+80 	0.300 	1.00 	6.30	 C  21 	 C   2
period	2142-2150 	000 	+80 	0.133 	1.00 	6.30	 C   8 	 C   1
period	2150-2200 	000 	+80 	0.167 	1.00 	6.30	 C   7 	 C   1


//          	Show	Interval     -6    -5    -4    -3    -2    -1    +0    +1
+2    +3    +4    +5    +6    +7    Tot
distribution	GIA 	1845-2200     -     -     -     -     -   1.0   4.0  13.0
53.0 104.0  73.0     -     -     -  248.0
distribution	SPO 	1845-2200     -     -     -     -     -     -     -   1.0
5.0  12.0   6.0     -     -     -   24.0

// Personal comments
Very transparent sky, milky way visible up to Perseus nothwithstanding moon.
Looking north, away from moon.



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