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Re: Estimating Velocities
I have to agree with Rainer on this one. I used the 1-5 scale until
the 94 Aurigid outburst. This shower produces meteors with a velocity
of 66 km/sec. The radiant was low when the outburst began. The
meteors I was seeing were very slow lasting up to 2 seconds. Using
the 1-5 scale I would have given these meteors a 1. How can you give
a meteor with a velocity of 66 km/sec a 1? I thought seriously about
this problem and decided that an estimate of degrees per second would
be much more accurate. Those Aurigids were lasting 2 seconds but also
moving 60 degrees of sky during that time. This would yield a
velocity of 30 degrees per second which is pretty fast.
I don't quite agree on the method the Europeans use to determine
their velocity estimates. I simply estimate the duration of the
meteor to 1/5 sec. accuracy and also estimate its length. By applying
a correction formula I can then determine the velocity after the
watch is over when I am rested.
For Example: A meteor travels 10 degrees in 3/5 of a second. The
correction formula for 3/5 is 1.67
The resulting velocity would be 10 X 1.67 = 16.7
degrees per second or round off to 17
This would be a meteor of average velocity
perhaps 30-35km/sec