(meteorobs) Orionids Wednesday morning

Bruce McCurdy bmccurdy at shaw.ca
Wed Oct 22 18:54:32 EDT 2014


Here in central Alberta I joined local astronomers Alister Ling and Mike
Noble on a small expedition west of Edmonton to a spot near Lake Wabamun,
about 65 km west of the light dome of the city. Despite very decent skies
meteor counts were weak.  In 2 hours of Teff I observed just 6 Orionids, 3
South Taurids, 2 (faint) Epsilon Geminids, and 5 sporadics. Brightest
meteors were a pair of -1 mag Orionids in the second hour.  

 

I also tried my hand at photographing meteors but don't appear to have
caught even one.   I did get some decent shots of the aurora that kicked up
a couple times above the northern horizon. As a newbie, I found the
additional activity a little distracting and time-consuming, and allowed for
that in my Teff. With luck the experience will pay off in meteors pix
sometime down the road. 

 

Both of my observing buddies weren't doing actual counts to the best of my
knowledge, but both confirmed very small numbers of meteors. Alister thought
perhaps he'd seen more STA's than ORI's.

 

This was the weakest Orionid show in memory, nowhere close to the bountiful
displays of 2006 and thereabouts. 

 

Bruce
*****

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org
[mailto:meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org] On Behalf Of Paul Martsching
Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2014 12:48 PM
To: Meteor science and meteor observing
Subject: (meteorobs) Orionids Wednesday morning

 

I went out for five hours this morning (Wednesday).  Sky good at beginning
of session, not quite as good later - some horizon haze developed.  Orionids
by hour: 4; 5; 14; 3; 5.   A good number or Orionids during the third hour,
then fewer in spite of rising radiant with conditions only slightly worse.
Orionid activity during the third hour seemed to be "near-normal" while I
was observing.  Otherwise the Orionids were disappointing, especially as I
was expecting more during the fourth and fifth hours after a relatively good
third hour.   The brightest Orionids were two of mag -3 during the third
hour.  While the SE wind was not strong, it felt rather cold.  

 

McFarland Park 4 miles NE of Ames, Story Co, Iowa (93 deg 34 min W; 42 deg
05 min N)

 

Shower meteors looked for: EGE; LMI; ORI; STA; TCA.  

 

22 Oct 2014 0530-0630 UT 45 deg F; dew pt 38 deg F; wind SE 8 mph; clear; LM
5.8; facing East 50 deg; teff 1.0 hr.  

ORI: four: +2; +3(2); +4

STA: three: 0; +2; +3

Sporadics: three: +2(2); +4

Total meteors: ten

 

22 Oct 2014 0630-0730 UT 44 deg F; dew pt 37 deg F; wind SE 7 mph; clear; LM
5.8; facing East 50 deg; teff 1.0 hr.

ORI: five: - 2; +2(2); +4; +5

STA: one: +1

TCI: one: +1

Sporadics: one: +1

Total meteors: eight

 

22 Oct 2014 0730-0830 UT 43 deg F; dew pt 37 deg F; wind SE 7 mph; clear; LM
5.8; facing East 50 deg; teff 1.0 hr.

EGE: one: +2

ORI: fourteen: - 3(2); +1; +2(2); +3(4); +4(5)

Sporadics: one: +4

Total meteors: sixteen

 

22 Oct 2014 0830-0930 UT 42 deg F; dew pt 37 deg F; wind SE 7 mph; clear; LM
5.7; facing East 50 deg; teff 1.0 hr.

ORI: three: - 1; +3; +4

STA: one: +3

Sporadics: seven: +1(2); +2; +3(3); +4

Total meteors: eleven

 

22 Oct 2014 0930-1030 UT 41 deg F; dew pt 37 deg F; wind SE 9 mph; clear,
but with noticeable horizon haze; LM 5.5; hint of morning twilight last few
minutes; facing East 50 deg; teff 1.0 hr.

EGE: one: +4

LMI: one: +1

ORI: five: +2(3); +3(2)

STA: one: - 1

Sporadics: six: 0; +1(2); +3(2); +4

Total meteors: fourteen

 

Paul Martsching in Iowa

 

 

 

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