(meteorobs) Oct 20/21 Orionids from north Florida

[Paul Jones]

Greetings again all,
       Well, my second 2012 Wayne T. Hally Memorial Orionid Meteor Watch
turned out to be pretty successful afterall despite my initial visual
impressions of the shower while I was observing it.  I did my usual two
hour rooftop stint here in St. Augustine from 4:15 to 6:15 a.m. EDT.  The
high pressure dome that settled in after the front passed made for pristine
sky conditions and temperatures a little above 50 degrees F/10 degrees C.
I was warm as toast under a sleeping bag, pretty close to optimum observing
conditions except for loads of Florida humidity.
       Before I reviewed my data, my impression was that the shower was
performing somewhat below par.   There would be long lulls of no Orionids
and then when they came they were often faint and inconspicuous.  Nothing
seemed to really stand out for me this morning, almost like paying a game
of hide and seek with them.  Then lo and behold, when I counted up all my
notes, I had gotten 48 Orionids in the two hours!  I was stunned, seemed
like way less than that.  Once again, the second hour came to the rescue in
a big way.  Here's the overall data:

0815 - 0915 UT (0415 - 0515 EDT) Observer:  Paul Jones Location:  5 miles
SW of St. Augustine, Florida,Teff: 1.0. LM 6.5, Sky conditions: clear,
Facing South

19 Orionids
2 epsilon Geminids
2 Taurids
9 sporadics
32 total meteors

0915 - 1015 UT (0515 - 0615 EDT) Observer:  Paul Jones, Location:  5 miles
SW of St. Augustine, Florida, Teff 1.0, LM 6.5, Sky conditions: clear,
Facing South

29 Orionids
2 epsilon Geminids
2 Leonis Minorids
9 sporadics
42 total meteors

I still can't believe I ended up with 74 meteors.  I guess the lulls in
activity were countered by the Orionids spurts, especially in the second
hour.   And I did see one case of two perfectly simultaneous Orionids that
second hour.  There was only one meteor all morning that reached a negative
magnitude for me and that was a lovely, -1 yellow Orionid that left a
glittering train that lasted for about five seconds on the sky.  Even the
Taurids were fainter this morning.    Most of the Orionids I saw were in
the 4th and 5th magnitude range and were very short-pathed. The two Leonis
Minorids were both impressive, bright with nice trains.  The epsilon
Geminids were also quite obvious once again.   I'll be anxious tt hear of
other's reports and impressions.  I couldn't help but think that most folks
just starting out in meteor watching might have been very disappointed with
this shower.  If their skies were less than perfect or they only watched
until 3 AM as many internet "sources" instructed them to do, they probably
saw little or nothing.  Let's see what tomorrow morning brings!  Full data
and mags to follow.

CLear skies and lots of Orionids to all, Paul in St. Augustine
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