(meteorobs) Taurids in Iowa

[Paul Martsching]

I got out to my usual observing site at McFarland Park earlier than I had planned, which was a good thing.  At 09:43 CST occurred a mag - 10 STA which ended about 8 degrees West of Rigel.  It started out orange-red and quickly brightened to white, perhaps 1/3 the diameter of the Moon.  Its path was very short to have been a NTA.  I had originally planned to stay out three hours if I could keep warm, but ended up staying out four hours.

At 12:20 pm CST the first group of a half dozen foreign college students showed up, stayed a few minutes by the observatory, then went away.  A while later, several more cars showed up, one at a time, and parked behind my car.  More than a dozen people eventually came up the road and went into the field south of the observatory.  At all times there was at least one person with a bright light, waving it around.  Near the end of the session several people came back from the field and got into the third car parked behind mine.  (I was facing East in front of my car.)  Because it was cold they turned the heater on and of course the car lights came on (car probably made in Canada.)  Even tho this car was behind my car and two other cars, it worsened the LM in my FOV by a least a magnitude.  So at the end of the fourth hour I left - too many people and too many lights.

No Andromedids or Leonids were seen during this four hour session.

Taurids by hour: 03; 05; 04; 02  Not impressive numbers

13 Nov 2015 0340 - 0440 UT 40 deg F; dew pt 27 deg F; wind West 14 mph; clear; LM 5.8; facing East 50 deg; teff 1.0 hour
NTA: one:  0
STA: two: - 10; +2
Sporadics: two: +1(2)
Total meteors: five

13 Nov 2015 0440 - 0540 UT 38 deg F; dew pt 26 deg F; wind West 12 mph; clear; LM 5.8; facing East 50 deg; teff 1.0 hour
NTA: four: - 4; +2(2); +3
STA: one: +2
Sporadics: six: 0; +1; +2; +3(2); +4
Total meteors: eleven

13 Nov 2015	0540 - 0640 UT 38 deg F; dew pt 25 deg F; wind West 13 mph; clear; LM 5.7; facing East 50 deg; teff 1.0 hour
NOO: one: +3
ORI: two: +2; +4
NTA: four: - 2; - 1; +1; +2
Sporadics: four: +1; +2; +3(2)
Total meteors: eleven

13 Nov 2015 0640 - 0740 UT 37 deg F; dew pt 24 deg F; wind West 12 mph; clear; LM ~5.5 (interference from flashlights and car lights); facing East 50 deg; teff 1.0 hour
NTA: two: +3(2)
Sporadics: five: +1(3); +2; +3
Total meteors: seven

Paul Martsching in Iowa