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Re: Magnitude Estimates
> I know this may be a controversial view to some
> people, so should we open a further discussion on it?
A visual observer can estimate magnitudes with an accuracy of 1 mag, except for
some particularly slow and long meteors. Yet it is wise to use a finer scale to
note the magnitudes. Noting a +3.5-mag meteor and putting it half into +3 and
half into +4 yields a smoother magnitude
distribution leading to more reliable population indices.
If too few classes (here: magnitudes) are available to the estimator he may tend
to distort the distribution, e.g. by preferring a certain class, say +2 meteors.
When he has the freedom to note
+1.5 and +2.5 meteors the magnitude distribution will rather look like a
continuous function.
The same problem occurs with speed estimates where degrees per second should be
preferred although nobody is able to estimate them with 1 deg/s accuracy. The
speed estimate in degrees per second is also superior for arbitrary scales for
other reasons.
Rainer