(meteorobs) Oct 23/24 2011 Orionid obs from N FLA - still going strong!

[George Gliba]

Wayne,

     You are so right, as is Paul. Nice job Paul!   I was out Oct. 24/25 
and saw
26 Orionids from 6:02 to 8:02 UT with a LM-6.4, and the next night, Oct.
25/26  with only a LM=5.7 with 20% clouds, I saw only 7 Orionids from 6:02
to 7:02 UT.  Still a nice show on Tuesday morning from Mathias, West 
Virginia.
I'll send a more complete report later.

P.S. We saw an awesome Aurora from 1:26 to 1:41 UT Oct. 24/25 !

Starry Skies,
GWG
Screech Owl Hill Observatory
Mathias, West Virginia




On 10/24/11 11:31 AM, Wayne Hally wrote:
>
> Paul, what a difference 0.4 magnitude in LM seems to make. Here in NJ 
> (though I only had one morning of the 22^nd so far) the Orionid rate 
> was only 4.4/Hr. Meanwhile, you were seeing dozens an hour.
>
> I hate light pollution!!!
>
> Wayne
>
> *From:*meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org 
> [mailto:meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org] *On Behalf Of *Paul Jones
> *Sent:* Monday, October 24, 2011 10:10 AM
> *To:* Global Meteor Observing Forum
> *Subject:* (meteorobs) Oct 23/24 2011 Orionid obs from N FLA - still 
> going strong!
>
> Greetings again meteor folks,
>
>       I managed to get out for yet another productive two hour Orionid 
> watch from my rooftop in St. Augustine this morning.  To my pleasant 
> surprise, I found the amazing 2011 Orionids still going strong and 
> only slightly weaker than the previous morning.
>
>      All told in the same two hour time frame once again (4:15 - 6:15 
> a.m. EDT), I had 81 total meteors with 53 of those being Orionids.  
> Still no elusive Orionid fireball has shown up, even with all this 
> brisk activity, but that is not unusual.  Orionid fireballs are 
> devilishly hard to come by!
>
>      This morning's Orionids were perhaps a tad brighter on the 
> average than the two previous mornings and train percentage was high 
> also, around 40%.  I noticed a bit more color in this morning's 
> Orionids also, mainly varying shades of yellow.  The brightest 
> Orionids I saw were zero magnitude, nothing in the negative magnitudes.
>
>      I had a couple of really pretty Taurids, too.  They were all long 
> pathed and a couple were first magnitude and showed an orangey tint to 
> them.  I saw only one Leo Minorid this morning but it was a lovely 
> golden first magnitude with a nice train.  I am impessed indeed with 
> this minor radaint as well!  The epsilon Geminids also were still 
> present, but weakly.
>
>     Here is the quick data from this morning:
>
> Oct. 23/24, 2011 Location:  5 miles SW of St. Augustine, Florida
>
> 0815 - 0915 UT (0415 - 0515 EDT)  L. M. 6.5, F - 1.0 Facing South
>
> 21 Orionids
>
> 3 Taurids
>
> 1 epsilon Geminid
>
> 11 sporadics
>
> 36 total meteors
>
> 0915 - 1015 UT (0515 - 0615 EDT)  L. M. 6.5 F - 1.0 Facing South
>
> 32 Orionids
>
> 3 Taurids
>
> 1 Leo Minorid
>
> 9 sporadics
>
> 45 total meteors
>
> This morning's watch will end my 2011 Orionid observing and I must say 
> it has been a joy to behold!  A couple of thoughts on this shower:  I 
> think some folks may be getting out too early in the evening for them, 
> seeing little to no activity and may be giving up before the good 
> stuff starts!
>
> The Orionids are a very challenging shower to observe, top notch sky 
> conditions are a must.  Also, I have noticed over the years that the 
> Orionids do not seem to really get very active until at least 0400 
> local.  Sometimes, it takes even to 0500 local for the shower to kick 
> in.  This combined with the fact that most Orionids are faint and 
> short-pathed, it is really to understand why some folks get weak 
> results.  They are, in my opinion, the most challenging major shower 
> to observe.  Patience is essential for them!
>
> Now my task is to compile all my data and report it to IMO, then back 
> to Meteorobs.
>
> Clear skies all, Paul
>
>
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