(meteorobs) Obs: 08/09 Nov 2013

[Paul Martsching]

I went out for four hours last night hoping to possibly see a bright Taurid.  During the last hour I finally saw a nice Taurid fireball at 09:20 UT; mag - 6, yellow, flared three times, travelled along the West/left side of the Big Dipper, ending ~8 degrees above the NNE horizon.  Very nice!!

Usual observing site at McFarland Park NE of Ames, Iowa.  

08/09 November 2013 Midnight to 04:00 am CST (09 Nov 2013 06:00-10:00 UT)

Shower meteors looked for and number by hour:
AND	0-0-0-0
LEO	0-2-2-3
ORI		0-0-1-0
NTA	2-1-1-1
STA		0-0-1-0

09 Nov 2013 06:00-07:00 UT 44 deg F; dew pt 37 deg F; wind West 9 mph; mostly clear with some extremely thin haze sometimes drifting thru mostly the North half of FOV; average LM 5.5; facing East 50 degrees; teff 1.0 hour.
NTA: two: 0; +1
Sporadics: four: +2; +3(2); +4
Total meteors: six

09 Nov 2013 07:00-08:00 UT 47 deg F; dew pt 36 deg F; wind West 16 mph; clear; aver LM 5.6; facing East 50 deg; teff 1.0 hour.
LEO: two: +2; +3
NTA: one: +3
Sporadics: three: +2; +3(2)
Total meteors: six

09 Nov 2013 08:00-09:00 UT 46 deg F; dew pt 36 deg F; wind West 15 mph; clear; aver LM 5.6; facing E 50 deg; teff 1.0 hr.
LEO: two: 0; +1
ORI: one: +4
NTA: one: - 2
STA: one: +2
Sporadics: four: +2(3); +3
Total meteors: nine

09 Nov 2013 09:00-10:00 UT 44 deg F; dew pt 35 deg F; wind West 14 mph; clear; aver LM 5.6; facing E 50 deg; teff 1.0 hr.
LEO: three: +2(2); +4
NTA: one: - 6
Sporadics: five: 0; +1; +2; +3; +4
Total meteors: nine

After I packed up I looked at Comet Lovejoy and Comet ISON with 7 X 35 binoculars.  Comet Lovejoy was an easy to find fuzz ball near the Bee Hive.  From what I have read about Comet ISON I was surprised how easy it was to find.  It looks very much like the photos, except the tiny star like central condensation is washed out in photos.  I was surprised by how bright the tail is.