(meteorobs) Nice Quadrantids display from Spain

[Francisco Ocaña]

Hi all,

after a couple of showers with strong moon interference (Draconids and 
Geminids) I could enjoy a long session in a moonless sky. The limiting 
magnitude was around 6.8 in a place around 100km away from Madrid. It 
was a very clear night, although cold (around -5ºC)!

In less than 2 hours of effective observing time I could see 94 QUA and 
16 SPO, with an average rate of 60 meteors/hour. Therefore the night was 
not boring at all, with some periods well above a meteor per minute. The 
average ZHR was ~60 (using r=2.1 ). This is the first time I have seen 
the Quadrantids and it has been very enjoyable despite the moderate ZHR 
and the abundance of faint meteors.

The sky brightness was also measured with a Sky Quality Meter 
(Unihedron):  zenith 21.28 mag/arsec^2 and in the FoV 21.24 (on avg). 
The zodiacal light was clearly seen.

Not many QUA bright seen, only two fireballs. The highlight of the night 
was not the brightest one, but an sporadic twin which members appeared 
40º appart. The one on the left was longer and slightly brighter (+2), 
while the other was a bit shorter and dimmer (+3). I have only seen 
twins belonging to major showers, but never such a striking event from 
the sporadic source.

In the Fireball Detection Station at the Universidad Complutense de 
Madrid, the recorded rates were very poor due to the moonlight and some 
fog after moonset.

Happy 2012!

Francisco Ocaña
Madrid, Spain