(meteorobs) Taurids in Iowa

[Paul Martsching]

McFarland Park 4 miles NE of Ames, Story Co, Iowa Long: 93 deg 34 min W  Lat: 42 deg 05 min N

It was warmer tonight, but the constant wind was bothersome.  The atmosphere was very unsteady.  Even stars high up sometimes twinkled.  Otherwise the sky was a good as it gets at this site and facing East.  On the drive home another deer crossed the road in front of me a mile nearer town.  Unsettled weather is predicted for the next few nights, so I will most likely not see the Leonid max.

Only one Taurid fireball tonight: STA(?) 0641 UT white; mag - 5; ended in western Lepus; quite wide/broad.  I might have listed it as mag - 4, except for its considerable width.  If its light was concentrated down to a more "normal" meteor size, it easily would make - 5.  I try to remember what Jupiter, Venus and a mag - 7 iridium flare look like.  Large/spread-out/wide meteors are more difficult, because the light is not concentrated to a "near-point" source.  When Sirius is up any meteor slightly dimmer is mag - 1 and slightly brighter is mag - 2.  

Uncertainty about assignment of some Taurids to NTA or STA.  (On Spaceweather.com the NASA camera network is still assigning all Taurid fireballs to NTA's.  Is this really true, or is it some kind of "formatting/default" problem?)

Taurids by hour: 05; 05; 03; 05; 04

I may have counted one or two NOO's as sporadics as this shower does not readily come to mind while I am observing.  No Andromedids were seen.  Also no "obvious" ORI's.

15 Nov 2015 0240 - 0340 UT 50 deg F; dew pt 37 deg F; wind SW 10 mph; clear; LM 5.7; facing East 50 deg; teff 1.0 hr
NTA: four: 0; +1; +2(2)
STA: one: +3
Sporadics: three: 0; +1; +3
Total meteors: eight

15 Nov 2015 0340 - 0440 UT 49 deg F; dew pt 37 deg F; wind SW 14 mph; clear; LM 5.8; facing East 50 degrees; teff 1.0 hr
NTA: five: - 2; +1; +2(2); +4
Sporadics: five: 0; +1; +2; +3(2)
Total meteors: ten

15 Nov 2015 0440 - 0540 UT 47 deg F; dew pt 36 deg F; wind SW 13 mph; clear; LM 5.8; facing East 50 deg; teff 1.0 hr
NTA: two: +2; +3
STA: one: - 1
Sporadics: four: +2; +3(2); +4
Total meteors: seven

15 Nov 2015 540 - 0640 UT 46 deg F; dew pt 35 deg F; wind SW 12 mph; clear; LM 5.8; facing East 50 deg; teff 1.0 hr
NOO: one: +3
NTA: four: - 3; 0; +1; +3
STA: one: +1
Sporadics: three: 0; +2; +3
Total meteors: nine

15 Nov 2015 0640 - 0740 UT 46 deg F; dew pt 35 deg F; wind SW 14 mph; clear; LM 5.8; facing East 50 deg; teff 1.0 hr
LEO: three: +1; +3; +4
NTA: three: 0; +2; +3
STA: one: - 5
Sporadics: four: 0; +2(2); +4
Total meteors: eleven

While packing up to leave I saw another mag 0 NTA.

I would see at least a few more meteors from a darker observing site.  But at my age (nearly 70) I can no longer see any sky as being better than about 6.0 no matter how good conditions really are - but a darker sky would surely help.  However, I am very reluctant to drive very far at night anymore.  The new-fangled head lights, often bluish, purplish or sometimes greenish, are not good for people who have lots of floaters.  Also being in a semi-reclined position for an extended amount of time seems to affect my body position "orientation" a bit, so I must be very careful driving after a long observing session.

Paul Martsching in Iowa