(meteorobs) Observation October 22/23 2014

[Bruce McCurdy]

Thanks for your usual detailed and colourful reports, Pierre. Sounds like a couple of excellent nights of observing, low Orionid counts be damned. Seems to me there were very few bright shower member reported by anyone on the list this year, and even with your excellent limiting magnitude at Nirvana (!) the numbers were only fair, & even those largely of medium-to-faint meteors. 

Bruce
***** 

-----Original Message-----
From: meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org [mailto:meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org] On Behalf Of Pierre Martin
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2014 5:23 PM
To: Meteor science and meteor observing
Subject: (meteorobs) Observation October 22/23 2014

For the second night, it looked promising at the Nirvana (aka Irvine Lake airstrip) dark site near Bon Echo Park, so Shane and I decided to head out there.  Getting out of Ottawa was a challenge due to heavy traffic (following the unfortunate and frightening shootings that occurred in the downtown core earlier that day).  Many roads and highways were clogged so it was slow moving until we were past the city.

I was glad we decided to go to Nirvana to decompress under pristine skies after such a day.  Shane and I were the first ones to get there, and we setup our tents and equipment.  Ivan and Nicholas Zuger soon followed.

The evening started with a few very thin clouds / haze in some parts of the sky, but the Milky Way overhead looked fabulous.  The very wide open sky dominating the scene, with no light pollution, is what makes this location so special.  It is truly a heaven for amateur astronomers.  I spent the evening chatting with Ivan, Nicholas and Shane, and just relaxed as I waited for the meteor radiants to rise in the east.  The thin clouds were dissipating… good news!  I was feeling tired so I decided to grab a snooze and set my alarm to wake me up at 1am.

I signed-on for meteors at 1:10am and I continued for 4 hours (effective time), taking occasional breaks, and lasted until 5:40am.  The sky was very good, and just kept getting better, with a limiting magnitude gradually improving as the night went on until it reached 6.8.  The Gegenshein was faintly visible and the Zodiacal Light was very evident late at night as a large triangular glow following the ecliptic through Leo.  I was glad that I had my full winter gear on, with my heavy-duty sleeping bag; the temperature reached a low of -4C and it got extremely humid with a layer of frost covering everything.  I was also getting tired at the end; I retreated to my tent and slept very well.

I saw a total of 86 meteors (34 Orionids, 12 S.Taurids, 3 Epsilon Geminids, 3 Oct. Lyncids, 2 Leo Minorids and 32 sporadics).  The Orionids were about what I expected, although the fourth hour produced a bit of a surge.  Lots of faint ones, so I can imagine that the slightest light pollution would have made many of these meteors difficult to see.  The brightest was a mag -1 Orionid at 5:30am that left a 1 sec train.


October 22/23 2014, 05:10-09:40 UT (01:10-05:40 EDT)
Location: Irvine Lake Airstrip (near Denbigh), Ontario, Canada
(Long: -77 deg 15'; Lat: 45 deg 1')

Observed showers:
Southern Taurids (STA) - 02:36 (039) +12 Orionids (ORI) - 06:16 (094) +16 Epsilon Geminids (EGE) - 06:58 (105) +28 Oct. Lyncids (OLY) - 07:20 (110) +53 Tau Cancrids (TCA) - 09:04 (136) +30 Leonis Minorids (LMI) - 10:28 (157) +37


Period 1: 05:10-06:05 UT; clear; temp -2C, F 1.00; LM 6.68; facing SE60 deg; teff 0.92 hr
ORI: four: +3; +4(2); +5
STA: four: +3; +4; +5(2)
OLY: two: +2; +3
EGE: one: +5
Sporadics: seven: 0; +2; +3(2); +5(3)
Total meteors: eighteen

Period 2: 06:25-07:26 UT; clear; temp -3C, F 1.00; LM 6.72; facing SE60 deg; teff 1.01 hr
ORI: nine: +1; +2; +3; +4(2); +5(4)
STA: six: 0; +3; +4(2); +5(2)
Sporadics: seven: +1; +2; +4(3); +5; +6
Total meteors: twenty-two

Period 3: 07:26-08:26 UT; clear; temp -4C, F 1.00; LM 6.78; facing SE60 deg; teff 1.00 hr
ORI: seven: +2(2); +4(2); +5(3)
EGE: two: +1; +4
STA: one: +3
LMI: one: +3
Sporadics: eight: 0(2); +1(2); +2; +3; +4(2) Total meteors: nineteen

Period 4: 08:26-09:40 UT; clear; temp -4C, F 1.00; LM 6.80; facing SE60 deg; teff 1.06 hr
ORI: fourteen: -1; +2(3); +3(2); +4(3); +5(5)
STA: one: 0
OLY: one: +5
LMI: one: +2
Sporadics: ten: -1; +2(2); +3(2); +4(3); +5(2) Total meteors: twenty-seven


Clear skies,
Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario
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