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(meteorobs) Re: 1993 Orionids
-- [ From: Robert Lunsford * EMC.Ver #2.5.1 ] --
Wesley, You Wrote:
> Is there any clear picture of what happened with the Orionids on
October 17,
> 1993? I was attending a star party/astronomy convention on Mt. Hood
when we
> noticed some unusual Orionid activity. (Unusual in that we expected
only a few
> meteors, but between 8h and 12h UT there were one or two every time we
turned
> our heads skyward from the telescopes!) The night was great for deep-
sky
> observing, and as I had the rare opportunity to view through large
telescopes,
> I chose this over lying down and making meteor counts. Stupid me!
>
> After a couple of us had posted anecdotal accounts to sci.astro.
amateur, I
> received an e-mail from Juergen Rendtel asking if I had any
quantitative data.
> Apparently, there were some other reports of enhanced activity. Of
course, I
> didn't have any quantitative data to offer. My perception was that
the
> observed hourly rate for Orionids would have been around 40 for a
single
> observer, but this was just a WAG. So, was anyone else watching the
Orionids
> on this date?
>
I actually was not out until the night of the 18/19. What I saw was
totally unexpected. I counted 81 Orionids in 5 hours; 76 in 4 hours if
you throw out the first hour when the radiant was low. The highest raw
hourly rate was 25 Orionids. 15 Orionids were of negative magnitudes
with a -6 being the brightest seen. It was an incredible night!
The following night also had strong Orionid rates but a majority of the
bright meteors were gone.
Bob Lunsford