(meteorobs) Nov., 13/14 2015 Taurid obs from north Florida - STILL rocking along!

[Paul Jones]

Greetings again all,
    I decided to employ Paul M.'s observing strategy last night; that is:
the early bird catches the fireballs, and it did work to some degree for me
as I did manage to see one, although nowhere near the number Paul got.
    I put in three hours out in the potato field last night (10 p.m. to 1
a.m. EST) and totaled 60 meteors altogether, with 31 of them being
Taurids.  I had a -2 and a -4, both NTAs, and several other long, showy
ones of both as well.

Here are the numbers:

Nov., 13/14 2015, Observer: Paul Jones, Location: Hastings, Florida (18
miles southwest of St. Augustine, Florida), Facing east all three hours

1000 - 1100 p.m. EST (0300 - 0400 UT), Teff 1.0 hour, LM: 6.8, clear
5 NTA: -2, +1, +2, +3, +4
3 STA: +2, +3 (2)
7 SPO: 0, +2, +3 (2), +4 (2), +5
15 total meteors


1100 p.m. - 1200 a.m. EST (0400-0500 UT), Teff 1.0 hour, LM: 6.8, clear
9 NTA: -4, 0, +1(2), +2, +3(2), +4, +5
4 STA:  +2(2), +3, +4
1 NOO: +2
12 SPO: +1(3), +2 (3), +3, +4 (2), +5 (2)
26 total meteors


1200 - 100 a.m. EST (0500 - 0600 UT), Teff 1.0 hour, LM: 6.8, clear
6 NTA: +1, +2, +3 (2), +4, +5
4 STA: +2, +3, +4. +5
9 SPO: +1, +3 (4), +4 (2), +5 (2)
19 total meteors

The second half of the second hour saw one of the most amazing spurts of
meteors I have ever seen away from a major shower.   The activity had
quieted down a lot during the first half of that second hour and I was
fighting off fatigue and drowsiness, big time.
I had just about decided to call off the watch at the end of the second
hour when all of a sudden the sky was full of meteors of all types!
There were NTAs hitting within seconds of each other, STAs going north and
south, sporadics that covered 40 degrees of sky and right in the middle of
all that, I had the -4 NTA fireball burst way off in the NE in the rising
bowl of the Big Dipper!
At the end of that second hour I had gone from almost falling asleep in the
middle of it to literally stunned at the end by what I had just seen!
There was no warning whatsoever and unfortunately, the spurt ended as
quickly as it began and the third hour returned to a much more mundane
normal...:o(.
I concur with Paul's observation that Taurids seen a long way from the
radiant complex are darned near impossible to attribute to one radiant or
the other.  The ones that are short and close are fairly easy, but the ones
far away (and many of them are) are nowhere near as easy to separate.
Tonight, I am aiming for the pre-dawn hours to see what the Leonids may be
up to.  Good luck to all!

Paul J in north Florida
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